PORT BUYING DECISIONS

[Roy Hersh]

Hopefully we can get a wide range of opinions here to shed some light on the what affects our buying habits

[Glenn E.]

#1 for me is easily price. I'm a bargain hunter. If the price is right, I'll buy any producer or any vintage.

Those are the next two, and for me they're really close. But for the purposes of this poll I picked producer as my second option as there are a few producers that I shy away from, but there aren't any vintages (that I know of yet) that I just won't buy.

[Jeff G.]

#1 for me is easily price. I'm a bargain hunter. If the price is right, I'll buy any producer or any vintage.

here here, in a fair market society, if something trades below fair market, you buy it and worry later.

[Gary Richardson]

For me, it is vintage and rarity/scarcity. Price would be third.

There is no greater thrill for me than finding that bottle that I have never seen or tried, before. Within some limits, I will pay just about whatever is being asked whenever presented with that situation.

For repeat bottles and daily-drinking, price and vintage would be the 2 most important factors. But, I am always on the prowl for the new experience. That is why in the last 3 years, I have consumed about 80 bottles of port but have had none more than 4 times. And, the vast majority only once as I have tried 60 different varieties.

-- Gary

[Eric Menchen]

Only two choices?! Well, I went with price and vintage, with thoughts like Glenn. After those two comes producer. And I will buy a rare bottle just because it is rare, but those don't show up very often, by definition. I wish I could claim provenance, but there is just way too much out there that is unknown.

[Jeff G.]

Clear case is the buying op you offer.

If it's something that can be readily available, then price is the most important factor.

But if you were to offer a say 1896 dow, the price wouldn't be the factor that made me blink.

[Moses Botbol]

I'm torn between price and novelty (something I haven't tried). Save all the MacKenzie, Robertsons, Feuerheerd, and Hoopers for me!

[John M.]

I, too, am a bargain hunter and I have to budget carefully. Being a relative newbie, I'll try anything. (Although there are a few brands I shy from <such as Offley> or covet <Niepoort>), so producer does not matter so much.

My second choice was retailer. No matter how good the deal, there are some wine stores I just won't buy from (mainly VPs) since I know or strongly suspect their VPs have been on a top shelf, upright, in light, yada, yada....for a long time.

[Roy Hersh]

Jeff,

Have you even seen some of the buyer's ops here? Didn't think so in actuality.

[Jeff G.]

Jeff,

Have you even seen some of the buyer's ops here? Didn't think so in actuality.

i do get a heads up about them from tbird and glenn from time to time.

[Roy Hersh]

Good to know.

[Al B.]

I voted price and vintage - but in truth the decision is probably more about price and whether I already have some of the particular port I am thinking of buying. For example, the price would have to be very low for me to buy any more Croft 2004 LBV!

[Roy Hersh]

Well the good news is that people were not shy about voting for a change!

Thanks.

[Luc Gauthier]

Well since the prices in Québec for VP can be outrageous , the answer is obvious .
I must go to Boston more often .

[Lamont Huxley]

I originally chose producer and vintage as my two top factors but on second thought I'd have to say that price is easily as important, if not more important, than those two. I'm definitely intrigued by rarity but that often corresponds to a high price tag which easily trumps the rarity factor.

So...

1. Price
2. Producer
3. Vintage

[Eric Menchen]

Sometimes rarity means a high price, but there are cases where something is rare and little known so you can pick it up for cheap. It's a risk, but a fun one IMHO.

[Roy Hersh]

Well with 50 votes in ... the clear winners are:

#1 - Price

#2 - Vintage

[Luc Gauthier]

Roy , can you really say that you aren't 100% surprised ?

[Roy Hersh]

Luc,

Let's just say that the two items I voted for, are way down the list % wise.

[Eric Menchen]

When my cellar is well stocked, my votes will change. But I'm not there yet.