Coalition ministers and senior civil servants were supplied with nearly four times as much champagne last year as the year before, documents show.

Whitehall ordered 204 bottles of champagne in 2013, compared with 53 in 2012, according to papers disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act.

Demand for sparkling wine more than tripled, with orders for 1,236 bottles last year and 360 the year before.

As well as ordering 204 bottles of champagne, Whitehall consumed 252 bottles of it, including two bottles of Louis Roederer 2000 worth £490 each. The most popular bottle of fizz was a non-vintage Heidsieck Heritage Brut, of which Whitehall officials drank 50 bottles, each worth £30.

The figures show there appears to have been a considerable change in attitude from 2009 when the Tories imposed a ban on senior party figures drinking champagne in the runup to the general election.

Jon Ashworth, a shadow cabinet office minister, said the move towards "bubbly" was a return to a Tory-led government. "Rather than popping champagne corks with their chums, David Cameron and his ministers should get down to business and tackle the cost of living crisis," he said.

According to the documents, the government's hospitality wing says that an "exceptional number of national celebrations", such as the Queen's diamond jubilee and the Olympics, resulted in an increased amount of drink being used from the government's wine cellar.

In total, officials toasted the nation to the tune of £65,623 last year – compared with £55,679 the year before.

They prepared for the year of "national celebrations" by selling off 54 older wines from their cellar to foot the bill for fizzy wines. Around £63,300 worth of vintage wines were sold – thousands more than 2011-12's relatively meagre return of £44,000. Spending on standard red and white "reception wine" almost halved.

According to the documents, wine is taken from the cellar for receptions and visits from dignitaries for an average of 200-230 events a year.

The government has a dedicated wine committee, which meets three times a year to carry out tastings and advise ministers and senior officials on choosing the correct drink for events. The committee, chaired by the former diplomat Sir David Wright, said wines were selected depending on "the nature of the event and the seniority of the guests".

Whitehall's wine cellar, which is located beneath Lancaster House near Buckingham Palace, stores 36,527 bottles of vintage wines and spirits and contains £832,607 worth of drink – including a £2,310 bottle of 1961 Chateau Latour.

The extensive store includes a £794 bottle of 1961 Chateau Margaux, a clear favourite of Margaret Thatcher who said the wine was "silky" at a lunch in September 1989.

Government officials assess the wine every few years to see how they have aged, according to the documents.

Some wines were labelled as "for very special occasions only", with future tasters advised to "drink sparingly". In 2005, a bottle of 1999 Corton-Charlemagne was described as going "through a difficult stage", while a bottle of Chateau de Laubade armagnac was designated as "for European guests" only.

After the election in May 2010, the Coalition government ordered a reform of the wine cellar to ensure it remained cost-effective. A review recommended that the government should sell-off some of its more expensive wines to help pay for future purchases and carry out an annual audit.

In 2009 Eric Pickles imposed a champagne ban on visitors to the Conservative party's annual conference. Cameron and George Osborne were under orders not to appear with a glass of champagne for fear of offending voters with shows of extravagance during a recession.