In search of Average

[Glenn E.]

The mean is the point where by half of the values lie above it and half of the values lie below it.

Actually, that's the median.

For the set of numbers {1,2,3,7,7} the mean is 4, the median is 3, and the mode is 7.

[Marc J.]

The mean is the point where by half of the values lie above it and half of the values lie below it.

Actually, that's the median.

For the set of numbers {1,2,3,7,7} the mean is 4, the median is 3, and the mode is 7.

That's right! I stand corrected. For whatever reason in the back of my mind I was thinking about the median, not the mean.

[Glenn E.]

This discussion shows why my use of "average" was incorrect and needed to be changed to "fair" or "ok." My use of it didn't fit any of the common meanings.

The mean "average" Port these days would have required that I specify whether I was averaging across volume or SKU. Across volume the mean would likely be pretty low, because there's a vast quantity of very basic Port that is consumed in France as a cooking ingredient. Across SKU the mean might be in the mid to upper 80s as those vast quantities of very basic Port get funneled into just a few SKUs and then averaged against all of the VP, SQVP, LBV, Reserve, etc SKUs that are out there.

The median "average" would require similar specificity regarding volume/SKU. Averaged across volume, the median would almost certainly be a very basic cooking Port. There are probably single brands of that very basic stuff that are produced in sufficient quantity to out-weigh all "premium" Ports combined. Based on SKU it's a little harder to guess because I'm not sure how many exist, but my guess would be that the median is probably a Reserve of some sort or possibly even an LBV.

But anyway... back to the original topic...

After the Taylor vertical in Los Angeles, I'm beginning to think that my quest for a "fair" Port might be tilting at windmills unless I'm willing to get one of those very basic cooking Ports. The Tuke Holdsworth Porto Wine Reserve is very simple, but in some ways is more pleasant to drink than some of the 1980s Taylors that we had in the horizontal. It only hits one note, and that one note isn't even an operatic high C, but it is consistent and pleasant in its own way. Some of the 1980s Taylors hit multiple notes, but to continue the analogy they were more like a fist pounding on a piano than any form of music. They just weren't all that pleasant to drink even though there were interesting aspects to each of them.

So aside from cooking Port, I'm beginning to think that my impression of a "fair" Port is one that it at least in some way partially flawed.

Hmm... more to ponder.

[Steve Pollack]

In search of mediocre, perhaps?