The Government has defended spending nearly £27,000 on restocking its wine cellar during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The total, which was revealed in a Foreign Office report, covers 2020-22, when Covid restrictions were in place for large periods of time.
The report shows that 130 bottles were consumed during the year to March 2021, with a further 1,300 drunk during the year to March 2022.
However, this was a marked drop compared with the 3,000 to 5,000 bottles of wine and spirits usually consumed in a year.
The report revealed that in 2020 to 2021, at the height of the Covid crisis, £14,621 was splashed out on 516 bottles of red Bordeaux wines, costing around £28 each.
In 2021 to 2022, a thirst for English and Welsh sparkling wines saw the Government spend £12,356 on topping up its cellar with 636 bottles, including 180 magnums, at an average cost of £19.
It also bought 18 bottles of gin, and four bottles each of whisky and liqueurs.
Foreign Office minister Andrew Mitchell said in a written statement: "All events organised by Government Hospitality during this period were done so in strict accordance with Covid-19 restrictions."
The publication of the stock list was initially expected in early 2023, but was repeatedly postponed.
Labour’s Emily Thornberry said: "Covid restrictions. A cost-of-living crisis. Nothing has ever stopped this government living the high life, least of all the struggles facing the rest of the country.
"This wine cellar report is just the latest evidence, and it should never be forgiven or forgotten by any of us."
Before Covid the cellar was "self-financed" through sales of stock and payments from Government departments for events.
But sales were not possible in the pandemic years covered in the latest report, only resuming in 2022.
The collection is meant to "provide guests of the Government, from home and overseas, with wines of appropriate quality at reasonable cost".
It was established in 1908 and is located in the basement of Lancaster House in Whitehall.
