UK leaders shun English fizz

UK Members of Parliament appear unmoved by the rising profile of English sparkling wine, which accounted for just 48 of over 25,000 bottles of fizz bought for the House of Commons’ cellar in the last four years.

A Freedom of Information Act enquiry revealed that between April 2010 and March 2014 the House of Commons spent a total of £275,221 on 25,205 bottles of sparkling wine.

The majority of the volume bought during this period was Champagne, at 16,254 bottles (including 48 half bottles), while Prosecco also proved popular at 1,092 bottles.

However, the only orders for English bubbles during that period came in April 2012, just ahead of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations, when the cellar added 18 bottles of Camel Valley sparkling rosé and 30 bottles of Herbert Hall sparkling.

The figures do not cover purchases for the House of Lords’ cellar, where it was recently revealed that peers had enjoyed 17,000 bottles of Champagne over the last five years.

The statistic emerged as a rumour circulated that the House of Lords had rejected the idea of merging the two parliamentary cellars on the grounds that it could lead to a drop in the quality of Champagne available.