Some of the UK’s government’s finest wines could be sold off to reduce the 40,000 bottles, worth about £2 million, which are kept by the Foreign Office for official dinners and receptions. The wines are cellared in Lancaster House, St James’s and range in value from £5 a bottle up to a 1961 Chateau Latour from Bordeaux at an estimated market value of £3,000. A review by the Foreign Office is expected to recommend a reduction in the size of the cellar. A Foreign Office insider said: “The question that is being asked is how many of the finest wines are actually needed for a limited number of very high level events in the years to come.”

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