A wine expert has blasted the White House for serving ‘cheap’ vintages that cost about $50 or less at Tuesday’s state dinner for the French President.

It comes as little surprise that the wines served at the gala were all from American vineyards, but wine blogger and New York University professor Tyler Colman criticized the choices for being driven by the budget at opposed to the quality of the wine.

‘The Obama White House seems to have made a conscious choice to bring down the price of the wines. This is unfortunate: given the White House policy of only serving American wines, they really should showcase the best of what America is making, irrespective of price,’ Mr Colman wrote on his blog, Dr Vino.

‘Sure, State Dinners are expensive, but has anyone taken a look at the Department of Defense budget and procurement lately? Fine wine at a state dinner is the equivalent of a few toilet seats and wrenches at the DoD.’

The wine in question included a 2011 white Morlet ‘La Proportion Doree’ from Napa Valley, a Chester-Kidder red blend from Washington state and a Thibaut-Jannison dessert chardonnay from Monticello, Virginia.