Not only did Morley marry into wine but she was also born into wine.

 Her late father The Hon. Ralph Mansfield was a well established wine merchant and was also the Managing Director of Hatch Mansfield Wine Merchants in London.  When she was younger she well remembers how every time a bottle came onto the table her father would give a ten minute (or more) talk on where the wine came from and its history before being allowed to taste it.

Morley does however admit that she never realised how much work actually went in to a bottle of wine until she married Bernard.  

The story of the wine shippers Hatch Mansfield & Co. Ltd.  As it appeared in the October 1973 issue of the “About Wine” newspaper

“Luscious Piccy London” conjures up a very distorted view of a respectable wine merchant, but whoever invented this unusual telegraphic address for Hatch, Mansfield must have had a keen sense of humour. 

Hatch, Mansfield have been fine wine merchants since the nineteenth century.  As might be expected, the business was begun by a Mr. Hatch who was later joined by a Mr. Mansfield.  Today the company is still run by a member of the Mansfield family (and it was until 1983)  

COLOURFUL
There have been several colourful characters in the history of the company, but the founder member, Sir Ernest Hatch, is probably the most noteworthy.  His career started very modestly selling newspapers on street corners, but with his strength and determination he could well have ended up the proprietor of a newspaper.

Fate changed his course and he entered the wine trade as a clerk to a City of London merchant.  Good fortune came his way when the wine merchant left the entire business to his three clerks.  Ernest Hatch, displaying tremendous business acumen, bought out the other two clerks at the earliest possible opportunity and became the sole proprietor of a thriving wine company which had, and still has, a very exclusive clientele. 

KNITED
Earnest Hatch married well, his wife being one of the daughters of the Duke of Leeds.  He eventually became a Member of Parliament and was knighted as Sir Ernest Frederick George Hatch.  He is also remembered for his own personal brand of whisky – VAT EFGH! 

The Honourable James Mansfield, a nephew of Lord Sandhurst, who was Lord Chamberlain at the time, and Sir Ernest Hatch joined forces in 1898.  This turned out to be a very successful alliance.  They supplied most of the Colonial Governors, the leading London Clubs, City Companies and famous Naval and Regimental Messes.  The Company’s list of home and abroad customers is quite remarkable over the years.

 In June 1930 one finds H.R.H. The Duke of Connaught KG at the top of the list, followed by Prince Arthur of Connaught KG, H.R.H. Princess Beatrice and H.R.H. Princess Louise.  The Dukes of Devonshire, Marlborough and the Marquis of Blandford appear also, plus a host of well-known and distinguished names.

Hatch Mansfield nowadays have expanded their trading to include top restaurants in and outside London, but their first list of private clients still reads like a page out of Debrett’s. 

TIES WITH WINE
The Honourable Ralph Mansfield, who represents the third generation in the family concern, is today’s Managing Director.  His father, the Rt. Hon. Lord Sandhurst, O.B.E., son of the founder, was Chairman before him.  Ralph Mansfield joined the company immediately after leaving the Navy, right after the war.

All his working life has been spent with the family firm, and ever since he can remember he has had very close ties with wine: he started to drink it seriously at the age of five, and spent the majority of his school holidays helping out in cellars, bottling, dispatching orders, etc., particularly at the peak Christmas period. 

TRADITION
The key to the success of the old-fashioned wine merchant rests on family tradition, and both Sir Ernest Hatch and the Honourable James Mansfield were staunch believers in this need.  They founded their company in that very same mould and today this tradition still lives on with Ralph Mansfield. 

The company became associated with Grants of St. James’s in 1963 but Hatch Mansfield, in fact, still operate quite independently fulfilling the function of exclusive wine merchant whose solid reputation is based on the best possible wines available. 

EXPERTISE
Wine expertise has always been its great strength, and all the tasting and selection is still carried out by the firm’s connoisseurs at their offices in the City of London.

The company has been fortunate in having, at every stage of its history, access to the country’s leading judges of good wine.  Comparing the pages of past and present wine lists one cannot help noticing that the same high standard of selection has been maintained.  The contents of the price list are still presented in the same personalised fashion, giving up-to-date information on vintage, areas, outstanding wines, the state of the market, etc.

This is an invaluable service to customers who are keen to buy for future consumption, or private investment.  Currently listed are a good selection of 1971, 1970 and 1969 clarets for laying down.  Hatch arrange individual schemes tailored to individuals’ requirements, store the wine in Bordeaux, or in Bond England, sell it again if required, and in general handle the whole operation.

Ralph Mansfield just over a year ago, carried out a wine investment of just over £50,000 for a client.  On the open market today it would cost just over £103,00.  He does not fully approve of the current wine investment boom that is spoiling the market for fine wines with its eternal “merry-go-round” of speculation.

Ralph Mansfield is a wine enthusiast and prefers to enrich his friends’ palates rather than their pockets.  Wine merchants in these days of economic stress, and rising wine prices, have had to go far afield, away from the main tracks, in search of new wines.  The wine world has rapidly developed into a seller’s market; Great Britain, which has for long enjoyed a ver privileged position, regaling the courtship of wine producers, is suffering probably more than other countries. 

The pattern of wine drinking has changed as world demand increases and the rare classic wines are becoming ever rare for the British who can seldom afford to drink them nowadays.  All this is a great wrench for those long used to drinking the best claret, port or cognac, but it is an irreversible fact of life. 

NEW SOURCES
Hatch, Mansfield have set their sights forward, without for that matter deviating from their tradition of quality, by discovering new sources of supply.  This has meant a great deal of searching by Hatch, Mansfield in, up till recently, ‘unfashionable’ wine areas, such as Languedoc, Roussillon, Cahors, Gaillac, Tuscany, etc. – this list is endless.

But, the Hatch, Mansfield emissaries have come back with some superb wines, individual and interesting.  Ken Christie, MW, Director and Sales Manager of the company has strong convictions as to his customers’ requirements, and these are sound, honest wines.  There is no doubt that exclusive names like Louis Jadot Burgandies, Delor Bordeaux and countless other already featuring in the Hatch, Mansfield portfolio, lend weight to any wine list, alongside lesser known wines from the new areas, but which bear the company’s ‘seal of approval’.

The top restaurants, and clubs supplied by Hatch, Mansfield cannot operate otherwise – they cannot afford to list but the best wines available. 

REPLACEMENT
The wine trade has had to react very quickly to the changing trends in wine drinking – it was a ‘sink or bust’ situation.   Vin ordinaire has made its indelible mark, but it rests firmly in its groove.

What the serious wine drinker requires now, as his favourite bottle of Nuits St. Georges becomes outrageously expensive, is a worthwhile replacement.  But, the education programme is slow and grinding…

One would recommend half an hour’s discussion with Ken Christie who is capable of convincing the greatest cynic that all wines have their own particular merits!

ASSURANCE
Hatch, Mansfield despatch wine anywhere in the British Isles in large or small quantities but a small charge will be made for orders of less than a dozen.  Carriage is free on all orders of twelve bottles or more.

When buying wines for laying down, storage facilities are available at the minimal cost of 52p per dozen per autumn.  Apart from saving space in one’s own home, the real advantage of this facility is that one has the assurance that the wines are kept under the best possible conditions. 

Clients of Hatch, Mansfield can be sure of good personal service, but there are times when incidents occur which are “simply beyond our control”.  Names cannot be mentioned, unfortunately, and this does take some of the sting out of the best story.

One of Hatch’s best customers, Lord X, married again and, if he was not faithful to his first wife, he was at least to his wine merchant.  His former wife, too, remained a good customer.  Unfortunately the Lady X’s would order their wine, without giving any specific indication as to their identity, number one or number two.  The staff grew accustomed to the intricacies of the situation and deliveries were executed perfectly until, one day, the inevitable happened.

Somehow the orders got mixed up.  Apologies, red faces all round; from then on Ralph Mansfield instructed his staff not to be quite so tactful in the future; it’s bad for business! 

Another illustrious client was the Rt. Hon. Winston Churchill M.P. who drank more or less exclusively Pol Roger Champagne, Hine’s Brandy and Johnnie Walker Black Label.  

In 1948, when Churchill was out of office, his butler ran Ralph Mansfield and asked for a dozen bottles of Black Label.  At that time it was quite unobtainable.  

Hearing the grave news, Churchill himself came on the line and, in characteristic fashion, gave the young Ralph Mansfield a good talking to in that gravelly tone of his.  He talked for quite a time in those marvellously phrased sentences, explaining that he had totally run out of whisky.  

Eventually Ralph Mansfield interrupted and said:  “Sir, you get rid of this bloody government and I’ll get your whisky.” A startled silence followed and then Churchill with an approving bark of laughter said: “Young man, I see you’re an astute business man”