Penny Wong thought she was trapped in an episode of Utopia last year when federal bureaucrats blocked the release of Tony Abbott's wine list for drinks functions on the basis that his "beverage preferences" were a matter of personal privacy.

But after a battle that has taken more than a year, the Australian Information Commissioner has agreed with Labor's Senate leader that Mr Abbott's choice of party plonk is not, in fact, a state secret.

The commissioner has directed the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet to release receipts, once heavily redacted, from bottle shops across Canberra, where Mr Abbott's staff bought $7340 worth of wine and beer in less than two months between February and April last year.

The wine war stretched into 2016 because Mr Abbott's then department took six months to respond to Senator Wong's request through freedom of information laws - five months longer than the statutory 30-day reply period.