Around two years ago, when I first traveled to Australia, I was struck by the number of winemakers asking my opinions regarding Robert Parker. Not the famous mystery writer–whose books never seem long enough to last me through an entire trip–the other one, who has made a 30-year career out of dispensing vinous advice to consumers.

On the one hand, I was a little taken aback. Although most folks brought up the topic diplomatically enough (“We’re not trying to make a huge, Parkerized style…” followed later by “So what do you think of his tastes, anyway?”), it was still somewhat disconcerting, being asked to comment on another critic’s critiques and preferences.

For the most part, folks Down Under seemed to think that Parker favored only the biggest, boldest, most dramatic and opulent wines–wines possessing the darkest color, ripest fruit, highest extract and elevated levels of alcohol. Even though Jay Miller is now reviewing Australian wines for Parker’s The Wine Advocate, little has changed in that public’s perception.

That appears true in this country, as well. Witness the latest item on Tyler Colman’s Dr. Vino blog, in which he and his illustrious dining/tasting companions taste a series of Argentine wines reviewed previously by Miller and conclude that “there was general agreement that the first wine tasted the best and that the last wine tasted different, more extracted, more dense, and bigger. ‘The wine that Miller would have liked the most,’ as one taster put it.” And yet that wine was a wine that Miller had dropped a 62-point bombshell on.

Predicting critics’ likes and dislikes–and especially making or marketing wines based on such suppositions–is fraught with peril. Yes, if one follows certain critics you can find common themes, but there are always exceptions. Haut Brion is one of Parker’s favorite Bordeaux, but it doesn’t have the power, size or muscle of Latour. In my own tastings, some rich, powerful and alcoholic wines come out on top, while others seem overripe, overblown and out of balance. More is not always more, sometimes it is too much.

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