Written question asked by Chris Bryant (Labour) on Tuesday, 8 June 2010, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 10 June 2010. It was answered by Lord Bellingham (Conservative) on Monday, 21 June 2010 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Government Hospitality: Wines

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many bottles of (a) red wine, (b) white wine, (c) champagne and (d) fortified wine there are in the Government Wine Cellar.

Answer: The Government Hospitality (GH) wine cellar has held between 38,000 and 39,000 bottles of wine for the last five years. Excluding beverage wines, the most recent independent stock-take in April 2010 indicated that the cellar contained:"25,883 bottles of red wine""6,828 bottles of white wine""1,779 bottles of champagne""2,975 bottles of fortified wine."80% of the stock is French (from Bordeaux, Burgundy, Rhone, Loire, Champagne and Alsace). Of the remaining stock 7% is Portuguese, 2% English and Welsh, 2% German, 1% Australian, 1% Italian and 1% American. Small quantities of Spanish, Austrian, Argentinean, Chilean, South African and New Zealand wines are also held. As reserves are used GH is able to diversify its stock as appropriate, while taking into account usage requirements, quality and value for money.It is not possible to give a detailed breakdown of the numbers of bottles per vintage of each region of origin without incurring disproportionate costs. The cellar stock levels are regularly reassessed and its performance and value for money are reviewed throughout the year.

Secondary information