Hatch Mansfield's association with France goes back many years. Certainly, the company would have been selling French wines when it was founded in 1802 and, despite the lure of the New World, has remained faithful to the French.

The company's price list of 1963 lists the wines of both Maison Louis Jadot and Champagne Taittinger.

A dozen halves of Taittinger Blanc de Blancs were priced at 378 shillings (£18.90) and Jadot's Grand Echezeaux '59 could be had for 300 shillings (£15.00) the dozen.

Happy days!

Now, Hatch Mansfield are agents for these two prestigious principals.