Questions raised about missing data from government wine cellar

The latest data on the UK government’s hospitality wine cellar, which covers the period of the Covid-19 pandemic, is yet to be released — six months after it was due for publication.

According to the gov.uk website page on the wine cellar, the last set of data was produced on 15 July 2021. As the information is produced bi-annually, there should have been an update in July 2023.

The cellar is used to provide guests of the government, whether domestic or from overseas, with wines “of appropriate quality at reasonable cost”.

But at the time of writing there is still no information available for the period covering March 2020 to March 2022: the length of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Due to the time period of the unpublished data, it is expected a sharp drop in the wine cellar, due to Covid restrictions that were in place across the two-year span and a lack of both domestic guests, foreign politicians and dignitaries, onto the government estate at this time, including restrictions on international travel and localised rules.

No data

According to the data set from 2021, which covered the period up to the missing information from March 2020, the cellar contained 32, 921 bottles of wine and spirits with a value of approximately £3.2m.

During the last recorded period from 2018 to 2020, more than 7,300 bottles were consumed, including 83 bottles of Champagne, 47 bottles of gin and just 16 bottles of whisky.

In addition, the UK government splashed out £73,000 on wine in 2019-20, the majority of which was English and Welsh – jokingly known as ‘Brexit juice’ in Westminster. The average bottle price of the wines bought over the period was £17.25. Among the English wines added to the cellar were 1,440 bottles of Chapel Down Bacchus from Kent.

The cellar was set up 110 years ago and is located in the basement of Lancaster House in Whitehall. Currently the oldest bottles in its stocks is a 1955 bottle of Château Latour, 1er Cru Classé, Pauillac. In 2017, db compiled a list of some of the most valuable bottles in the cellar.

Calls for transparency

The Labour Party has now called on The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, which holds the information on the cellar, to publish it immediately to quell concerns that the cellar could have been used inappropriately while restrictions were in place for the pandemic.

A question on the issue was raised in late 2023, with minister Andrew Mitchell stating the data set would be released before the Christmas recess, but this has not occurred.

Emily Thornberry, the shadow attorney general, said: ““ Whatever the truth, it is ridiculous that we have only had one report on the use of the government wine cellar in the past five years.

“David Cameron used to say this Tory government would be the most open and transparent in the world. If he meant that, he will stop playing for time and publish this report as soon as parliament returns.”