How many times have you been told not to be fobbed off with second best? This is usually followed by being told that it’s worth paying a bit more for something that is higher quality. This is misguided advice.
It is often much better to choose second best. Joshua Reynolds painted many superb portraits, including two group portraits that hang in my club. But, and there’s always a but, he also churned out some dull stuff. His contemporary Francis Cotes is not as well known. His best work eclipses some of Reynolds’ portraits. Here is Captain Robert Boyle Nicholas with his yacht ‘Nepaul’.
I started thinking about this when a friend who has galleries in London and New York was lamenting a problem of his trade. Specifically, he finds that footballers all want pictures by the same artist. It was Picasso but they have now moved on. They all wanted a Picasso on the wall but even footballers didn’t want to pay for a good one, so they ended up with second-rate Picassos when they could have spent less money on something better. Ronnie Wood is to be admired for his taste and acumen collecting William Orpen’s pictures. He can afford to buy those of the highest quality.
As Christmas approaches supermarket shelves will be full of attractively, well temptingly, priced Champagne but, as Jonathan Ray points out in his Spectator Wine Vaults column, there are cheaper alternatives that are of a higher quality. He picks a 2013 Blanquette de Limoux from the Languedoc, £11 from The Spectator offer or £12.99 from The Wine Company in Colchester.
It will not have the depth and complexity of Grandes Marques Champagnes but it will be a lot better than the acidic, under-matured fizz that is allowed to be labelled Champagne because the grapes were picked there. Neither the quality of the grapes nor the vinification do good Champagne any credit.
The best work by some composers, poets and authors can transcend the lesser works of their better known contemporaries. “Super Seconds” as they are called can outshine some of the First Growths in Bordeaux.
So, have second thoughts and see if second best is actually better.