LO S T F EATU R E
Masters of Food and Wine BY SAR AH L ANG. PHOTOGR APHY BY ADRIAN L ANDER
M
ax Allen is no ordinary wine writer. For him a story about a certain bottle of wine maybe less about the contents on the other side of the glass and more about the life history of the winemaker. An article about Yarra Valley cool climate wines could lead to a story about Swiss settlers and aboriginal elders. He is a man with a curious mind. He is also devastatingly witty and funny, even self-deprecatingly so. He’s been known to take the mickey out of his profession, spuriously listening to a glass of wine as opposed to sniffing it or admiring the colour. Max has won awards for his wine writing, which over the past quarter century has identified the major trends in wine production and consumption. In his book The Future Makers he wrote about how wine makers, including those in this wine region, were some of the first primary producers to respond to the effects of climate change. He is also the next-door neighbour and close friend to our very own Editor-at-Large, Richard
Cornish. His other gig is as a food writer working for The Age and famous for having his Good Food column Brain Food cancelled one week, only to be reinstated the next week after reader outrage. Although known for his sense of wit, he is a serious food journalist having exposed the use of hormone growth promotants in the Australian cattle industry and writing about the deplorable state of dairy in the nation leading to changes in production and packaging. “I still haven’t stopped the bloody supermarkets from charging $1 dollar a litre for milk,” he says. “It is killing dairy farmers. Literally.” And it’s because they are so respected and so knowledgeable that they can get away with their other, more entertaining ventures. Just as Annabel Crabb has Kitchen Cabinet, these two have – The Hungry Gentlemen. Together they are partner-in-crime performing hilarious, entertaining and honestly, mindexpanding food education classes and food and wine quizzes under the stage name, The L O S T M A G A Z I N E | 11
