Ministers fail to balance books at £3million wine cellar In total, the cellar holds 38,000 bottles costing £857,000 when bought, but are now valued on the open market at £2,953,000. Some of the taxpayer-funded bottles are sold in shops for more than £1,000 each. Guests at Government events drank 23 bottles of the 1982 Chateau Margaux Bordeaux, which sells for up to £1,100 a bottle. Sales of stock totalled £44,000, according to the first annual statement on use of the wine cellar. Mark Simmonds, the Foreign Office minister, told MPs in a written ministerial statement: "The wine cellar has already moved to a self-funding regime, through the sale of some high-value stock." He said that the wine cellar received £10,519 from other government departments, to help more than cover wine purchases of £48,955. The figures also show that 138 bottles of champagne were opened at 230 parties last year. Guests were also treated to a fine bottle of brandy that can sell for nearly £1,500. French wines have proved to be most popular over the past year, Mr Simmonds said. However officials also bought 2,400 bottles of the English wine, Chapel Down Bacchus 2010 as well as 575 bottles of red Burgundy and 600 bottles of the Chilean red, Concha y Toro Merlot. They also bought 11 bottles of vodka, 82 bottles of gin and 53 bottles of champagne. Robert Oxley, the campaigns manager for the Taxpayers" Alliance told the Daily Mail that "it smacks of hypocrisy for the political elite to be quaffing fine wines at a time when ordinary families struggle to make ends meet. "Of course there will be a cost associated with hospitality but a time when savings have to be made, it would not be out of place to open more modestly priced bottles of wine," Mr Oxley said. Government departments sitting on such valuable assets should look at selling them rather than drinking the potential profits. A Foreign Office spokesman said: "Whether it is national celebrations, state visits, or receiving guests of government, the UK prides itself on giving a warm welcome through its business hospitality. The Government Wine Cellar supports this work in a cost effective way. The Government Wine Cellar has been in operation for over 90 years enabling the Government to buy in bulk and also purchase and store young wines for use when are fully mature. These help fund the cellar through sales of wine which has matured over time to a greater value. A review ordered by the Foreign Secretary in 2010 found that the Government Wine Cellar was the most cost effective way of catering for Government events, and the cellar is used exclusively for that purpose. The wine is stored in the cellar of a London mansion owned by the Queen and leased to the Government. It is operated by the Government Hospitality service, which has an annual budget of £600,000 and is staffed by 14 civil servants. Wine is chosen through blind tasting by the Government Wine Committee, which is chaired by former diplomat Sir David Wright.