Conservative ministers knocked back a 102-year-old bottle of cognac at a party just months before Rishi Sunak left office, the Foreign Office has revealed.
The valuable vintage was cracked open for an event marking the centenary of the Government Wine Cellar in December 2023.
Attendees also enjoyed a port from 1931 and a 1983 Bordeaux at the do, hosted by long-serving Tory MP Andrew Mitchell.
But it was the 1922 Hine Cognac – bottled the same year Ireland seceded from the United Kingdom – that appears to have been the star of the show.
According to the Independent, the same bottle had gone for £1,500 the last time it was auctioned.
The Government Wine Cellar is located beneath Lancaster House on the Mall in London’s West End.
Founded in 1922, it falls under the jurisdiction of the Foreign Office and is mainly used for providing impressive refreshments when officials feel the need for some liquid diplomacy.
A report from October last year revealed the scale of the facility: it contains a total of 2,713 bottles, of which 1,771 were British.
It’s not all wines, either – hidden among the collection are 33 bottles of spirits and brandy.
The total value of the booze stored under Lancaster House is an jaw-dropping £3.8 million.
Details of the party in December 2023 were revealed in a government answer to questions from Foreign Affairs Committee chair Emily Thornberry.
Catherine West MP said the attendees included ‘Andrew Mitchell MP, Minister responsible for the Government Wine Cellar at that time, Chairs and Members of the Government Wine Committee, past and present, their guests and two officials’.
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