Why you shouldn’t be angry about the House of Lords spending £90,000 on champagne...

Ostentatious? Certainly. Out of touch? Absolutely, writes wine expert Rosamund Hall – but before you damn the lords for it, they’re not the only ones who need to answer questions about their booze consumption...

Ministers are currently being asked why a request for a report on the government’s consumption of wine and spirits during the pandemic has been postponed four times (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

For full transparency, I should be clear in stating that I love champagne – nothing is quite as magical and versatile to drink. But reports of the House of Lords spending nearly £90,000 last year on a luxury few can afford left me with a very sour taste in my mouth.

According to a recent freedom of information request, 1,589 bottles of champagne were purchased at a cost of £88,987.90 in 2023, the highest number in five years. The figure wasn’t much smaller in 2019, when 1,441 bottles were purchased, but the cost was significantly less at £69,988.80 – like everything else, the cost of champagne has rocketed.

The debate about the lords’ love of bubbly has been going on for more than 10 years now, when it first emerged that they refused to have their catering budgets merged with the House of Commons over fears that “the quality of champagne would not be as good if they chose a joint service”.