Max Allen
Max, based in Melbourne, joined us in August 2013, writing about matters Australian. Early in 2017, after 19 years writing for The Australian, he became wine correspondent of the Australian Financial Review. Max is a two-time winner of the André Simon Memorial Award: in 1998 with Red and White, Wine Made Simple, and again in 2020 for Intoxicating: Ten drinks that shaped Australia. His latest book, Alternative Reality: How Australian wine changed course, was a finalist in the 2023 Wine Communicators of Australia Awards and won high praise from Tam to boot. In 2025, he was named Australia’s Wine Communicator of the Year for the second time. Max also teaches wine studies at the University of Melbourne, makes cider and wine, plays mandolin and is a practising artist at the renowned Blender Studios in West Melbourne.