“Anti-aging is a disappointing pursuit. … There is no point at which the anti-aging will have worked – when you look in the mirror and say, ‘I’ve done it! I’m anti-aged!’ Once you buy into the concept of anti-aging, you buy in forevermore.” That’s from the first installment of Ask Ugly, an advice column by Jessica DeFino, in The Guardian’s new Wellness section. (And in response to the question “Should I get Botox?”) DeFino’s beauty newsletter, The Unpublishable, is also great.
Max Allen’s 20 top drink picks of 2023 – including one for $25
Max Allen’s 20 top drink picks of 2023 – including one for $25 The reds, the whites and the rest … what are the drinks you will remember from 2023? Our expert rounds up his top choices. From the upcoming December issue out on November 24. Max AllenDrinks columnist Nov 24, 2023 – 5.00amWhen you look back at your life, what moments come to mind? Milestones of family and friends, births, deaths and marriages, for sure. But what else? Some remember significant sporting moments: the season their team won the flag, or where they were when Sam Kerr kicked that goal. Some think of holidays they took. Others recall memorable meals. I think about the drinks. I mark my life in bottles and glasses: the first time I tasted Grange (Tony Bilson’s restaurant in Sydney, September 1990); the wine we drank at our wedding (Cope Williams Romsey Brut); tasting the first orange wine made in Australia (by T’Gallant’s Kevin McCarthy, in 2007). So here, for my annual round-up of top drinks this year, I’ve compiled a list of the bottles I’ll look back on to remind me of 2023.
The reds, the whites, the rest: our drinks writer has chosen his best of the best. Jennifer Soo
The year kicked off with one of the latest, most difficult vintages any Australian winegrower has experienced – in the eastern states, at least – so the white wines on this list kick off with a triumph of a semillon from that beleaguered season. It rolls through some shimmering rieslings and a chardonnay tasted at winemaker gatherings, a super-trendy textural white blend tasted at a winery cellar door in McLaren Vale, and a Greek white that was one of the most terroir-expressive wines I tried all year – and a reminder that our imported wine scene continues to provide so many fascinating drinking options. There’s also a bunch of reds here that reflect the modern Australian wine drinker’s passion for pinot noir and grenache and alternative varieties – and the modern Australian winemakers’ skill with cabernet sauvignon. I tasted so many great examples of this undervalued grape this year, I could have made this list a “top 20 cabernets”. And finally, a snapshot of the increasing diversity of our drinking culture, a selection that stretches from a super-traditional Aussie classic (sparkling shiraz!) through to a cutting-edge non-alcoholic aperitivo via an artisanal pastis producer in Provence. I’ve been assured by the producers and importers that these drinks should all be available at the time of publication (late November, early December), either direct, or through independent bottle shops, behind select bars and on some restaurant lists. As ever, prices quoted are approximate.
A list that reflects the modern Australian wine drinker’s passion. Jennifer Soo 1. Ten Minutes by Tractor Tahere Pinot Noir 2021
Mornington Peninsula, $130 First tasted at the winery last year, tasted again at the Pinot Noir Celebration on the Mornington Peninsula early this year, and now finally released for sale, this is Ten Minutes by Tractor’s top cuvée of pinot. Sourced from the best blocks of various vineyard sites – including some newer, very high-density plantings – this wine has more weight than most of the pinots from this winery and this region. Concentrated, dark, almost voluptuous pinot fruit, but also has superb finesse and length of flavour. tenminutesbytractor.com.au
2. 2017 Fighting Gully Road Aglianico Alpine Valleys, $45
Viticulturist Mark Walpole is one of the most influential advocates for alternative varieties in Australia and has long put his money where his mouth is, planting dozens of different non-mainstream grapes in his vineyards in north-east Victoria. For me, one of the most successful of these varieties has been aglianico, originally from the hills of Campania: this wine has heaps of beautiful dark, macerated plum and cherry fruit, wrapped up in gutsy, deeply savoury tannins that travel along the palate with confidence and poise. fightinggullyroadwines.com.au
3. 2022 Joshua Cooper Cuvée One Victoria, $200
Josh Cooper is nuts about cabernet sauvignon: he has a cellar full of old vintages from great Victorian vineyards such as Balgownie. This cuvée is an homage to those wines, made using small batches of cabernet picked from those old vineyards.
It’s an uncompromising, savoury, elegant wine – full of “old-fashioned” Victorian cabernet characters of eucalypt and minty blackcurrant – and I wasn’t sure about it at first, but as I tasted (and drank it) over a couple of days I became convinced that it is a legend in the making. joshuacooperwines.com.au
4. Stoney Vineyard Pinot Noir 2022 Tasmania, $40
The pinot noir produced at the renowned Domaine A vineyard in Tasmania’s Coal River Valley is a robust style that needs time in the bottle to mellow (the current vintage is the 2018). The same winery also makes more “approachable” wines from younger vines, under the Stoney Vineyard label, and while this vintage, from vines planted in 2019, does have some wonderful macerated plum flavours, the low-cropping, dry, late vintage has also resulted in some quite sturdy tannins and dark, sweet-humus-like characters. Very expressive and memorable. domaine-a.com.au
5. 2020 Vasse Felix Cabernet Sauvignon Margaret River, $55
The best way to compare wines – especially famous wines with lofty reputations – is to taste them blind, in masked bottles, with the order mixed up so you don’t know which is which. This is how I discovered how good (and what good value) this cabernet is: it was one of my top wines from a blind line-up that included more “prestigious” wines at two or three times the price. Absolutely classic varietal flavours of concentrated blackcurrant and “pencil shavings” cedar and graphite, with elegant but firm drive and power. vassefelix.com.au
6. 2022 Cirillo The Vincent Grenache Barossa Valley, $25
I first tasted this when I visited Marco Cirillo in the Barossa earlier this year working on a feature about how old-vine grenache, once overlooked and undervalued, is now one of the most sought-after wines in Australia. This example is produced from grenache grown in two vineyards, one planted in 1901, the other in 1906: it’s a super-vibrant and bold wine, full of flavours of dusky rose petal, black raspberry and a sprinkling of spice. Snappy, bright, dusty tannins, a joyful slurpy juiciness. Very moreish and outstanding value. cirilloestatewines.com.au
7. 2019 Antonio Madeira Vinhas Velhas Tinto Dao, $70
A brilliant introduction to the new wave of young Portuguese winemakers shaking up that country’s table wine scene. This wine is a co-fermented blend of more than 20 local red grape varieties including jaen (Spain’s mencia) and tinta amarela, grown in small plots of old vines – “vinhas velhas”– high in the hills of the Dao region north of Lisbon.
Beautiful flowing ripe purple fruit gives way to a dusting of cocoa-like bittersweet tannin; it’s the kind of wine that makes you crave espetada, garlicky beef skewers grilled over charcoal. Imported by qedwines.com.au
8. 2021 Murdoch Hill Orion Syrah Adelaide Hills, $91
It has been a great year for stunning shiraz (also known as syrah) from cooler-climate wine regions – wines such as the award-winning 2021 Ngeringa Iluma Syrah ($70) and the 2019 Seville Estate Dr McMahon Shiraz ($195). This is another standout example of the style: plush black fruit, concentrated but not heavy, with a sprinkling of black pepper and long, fine silky tannins. Very seductive now, but also has the stuffing and structure to develop beautifully in the cellar for a decade or more. murdochhill.com.au
The list includes a triumph of a semillon. Jennifer Soo 1. Briar Ridge Black Cluster Semillon 2023
Hunter Valley, $50
Classic Hunter semillon is the gift that keeps on giving: the perfect oyster wine when it’s young and mouthwateringly crisp, the perfect wine-geek wine when it’s been left to mature in the cellar for a decade or two to develop its trademark toasty richness. And this new single vineyard release is an absolute classic: delicate aromas of lemon pith and green apple, some crunchy snow peas, precise, refreshing, with a subtle but firm mineral drive. Buy two cases: one to drink this summer, one to drink in 20 years’ time.
briarridge.com.au 2. Dune El Beyda 2022 McLaren Vale, $28
Two of the most exciting developments in white winemaking in Australia are the increasing focus on producing wines that have attractive texture on the tongue – and growing non-mainstream grape varieties that can provide that texture. This is a terrific example of what I’m talking about: a blend of grenache blanc, grenache gris and clairette – all relatively new to McLaren Vale – result in a wine with pale golden colour, pretty, honeyed, orange blossom aromatics and a lovely textural, grape-pulpy quality. Excellent value. dunewine.com
3. Adelina Ruchioch Riesling 2022 Clare Valley, $35
From the thoroughly well-deserved winner of the 2023 Young Gun of Wine Vineyard of the Year award comes this gorgeous riesling, sourced from a block of certified organic vines in the Polish Hill River subregion of Clare. Really enticing aromatics of freshly squeezed cold grape juice and little white spring flowers, a slug of lime juice as the wine hits the tongue, and then the most extraordinary cascade of powdery chalky minerality that stretches the wine out through the palate. Bring on the salt-and-pepper calamari and lime aioli. adelina.com.au
4. Bannockburn Chardonnay 2022 Geelong, $70
There are so many fantastic premium Australian chardonnays around these days – particularly from the cooler 2022 vintage, which produced especially elegant styles in our top chardonnay regions – that I had many options to choose from to include here. But there’s something about this latest release from Bannockburn that I found irresistible. It has so much complexity but harmony and vibrancy, too: pure ripe Meyer-lemony fruit, a seamless hint of barely discernible oak, all effortlessly woven into the flowing structure. bannockburnvineyards.com
5. Argyros Cuvee Monsignori Old Vine Assyrtiko 2020 Santorini, $110
One of the best tastings I went to this year was of newly imported Greek wines, many produced from ancient varieties such as the white assyrtiko, which has been grown on the dry, windy, volcanic island of Santorini for thousands of years. This example, produced from Argyros’ oldest, lowest-yielding vines, has beautifully refined aromatics, floral, with some citrus and riper yellow fruit but subtle, teasing; then a long line of pretty, tangy minerality that unfurls along the tongue, satisfying and lingering. Imported by dejavuwines.com.au 6. Vignerons Schmolzer and Brown Obstgarten Selection Riesling 2021 Beechworth, $48
Whereas the Adelina is a fabulous example of the classic Australian dry riesling style, this is a shimmering example of the slightly sweet but dry-finishing riesling style inspired by wines produced in Germany. It is 10 per cent alcohol and contains around 40 grams per litre of grape sugar: bright yellow fruit – crunchy yellow peach, perhaps, or slightly underripe apricot – tumbles across the tongue carried by precise, focused citrussy acidity and a touch of marmaladey Botrytis complexity. Thrilling. vsandb.com.au
A snapshot of the increasing diversity of our drinking culture. Jennifer Soo 1. Etota Bittersweet Aperitivo Byron Bay, $50
This new aperitivo is the best new entrant to the increasingly crowded non-alcoholic drinks market I tasted this year. Made from more than a dozen fruits, herbs and spices – including gentian, rhubarb and rooibos – and sweetened (but not too much) with grape juice, it’s like a flavour-packed, rustic version of Campari that is excellent both with soda over ice (if you’re not drinking alcohol) and with gin or prosecco (if you are). I love the square-sided 500ml bottle, the aesthetics of the labelling, the versatility, the whole package. etotadrinks.com
2. Mouzon-Leroux L’incandescent Champagne, $150
I’ve been lucky enough to taste quite a few great champagnes this year, as well as some superb new Australian sparkling wines, but the standouts were the newly imported range from ninth-generation vigneron Sébastien Mouzon in Verzy, in the northern Montagne de Reims. All the wines in the range are good, but this rosé really impressed: 100 per cent pinot noir, three years on lees, it’s full of robust, “country wine” flavour: rosehip and red apple and hedgerow berries. Really delicious fizz. Imported by imbibo.com.au
3. 2018 Alpha Box & Dice Yolk McLaren Vale, $50
Winemaker Sam Berketa has a passion for “orange” wines (made from white grapes fermented and macerated with the skins) and makes that clear with this exceptional example. It’s made from very ripe semillon, fermented and macerated for 300 days on skins then pressed into barrel, where the wine spent four years before bottling. The result is a glowing golden tincture, full of ripe yellow fruit and exotic, fenugreek-like spice and a fully resolved, tender grip on the tongue. Tastes like autumn. Delicious. alphaboxdice.com
4. 2012 Seppelt Show Sparkling Shiraz Great Western, $100
I know, I know. Every year I urge you to consider including this classic Australian wine style in your Christmas drinking schedule. And, look, here I am again, tempting you with the latest vintage of Seppelt Show Shiraz, first made at Great Western in the 1890s: deep purple foaming in the glass, full of rich, dark aromas of squishy bramble berries and sweet soy, bold and chocolatey and super satisfying in the mouth. Is there a better wine match for roast turkey and glazed ham? I don’t think so. seppelt.com.au
5. 2021 Pastis Garagai Provence, $92
You’re probably familiar with the anise-scented spirit, pastis, from the big brands Pernod or Ricard: you might have drunk it on holiday in France. Well, this is artisanal pastis, produced in tiny quantities (5000 bottles a year) by a wine grower in Provence, using locally grown or foraged botanicals such as star anise, fennel flower, Marseille basil and sage.
Each botanical is macerated in spirit and then blended and the result is explosively flavoursome, endlessly complex – and nowhere near as sweet as commercial pastis. Santé! Imported by mosaiquewines.com.au
6. Cape Byron “The Original” Single Malt Byron Bay, $130
One of the boozy highlights of the year was tasting this gorgeous whisky at the distillery in the Byron hinterland: it has complex, elegant flavours of yellow fruit, floral honey and toasted coconut. I also managed to snag a rare bottle of Brookie’s Barrel Aged Mac. ($85) a richly nutty roasted macadamia and toasted wattleseed liqueur that has become a staple in our drinks cabinet. Unlike the whisky, the liqueur has since sold out: I strongly suggest signing up for a bottle of the next batch when it’s released. capebyrondistillery.com
The December issue of AFR Magazine is out on Friday, November 24 inside The Australian Financial Review.
RELATED The top 20 wines of 2022 (many you might never have heard of)
RELATED
The 19 best drinks of the year (including a $20 bargain) The best of travel, fashion, cars and more, straight to your inbox. Sign up to our weekly newsletter.
Sha2. 2017 Fighting Gully Road Aglianico Alpine Valleys, $45
Viticulturist Mark Walpole is one of the most influential advocates for alternative varieties in Australia and has long put his money where his mouth is, planting dozens of different non-mainstream grapes in his vineyards in north-east Victoria. For me, one of the most successful of these varieties has been aglianico, originally from the hills of Campania: this wine has heaps of beautiful dark, macerated plum and cherry fruit, wrapped up in gutsy, deeply savoury tannins that travel along the palate with confidence and poise. fightinggullyroadwines.com.au
3. 2022 Joshua Cooper Cuvée One Victoria, $200
Josh Cooper is nuts about cabernet sauvignon: he has a cellar full of old vintages from great Victorian vineyards such as Balgownie. This cuvée is an homage to those wines, made using small batches of cabernet picked from those old vineyards.
It’s an uncompromising, savoury, elegant wine – full of “old-fashioned” Victorian cabernet characters of eucalypt and minty blackcurrant – and I wasn’t sure about it at first, but as I tasted (and drank it) over a couple of days I became convinced that it is a legend in the making. joshuacooperwines.com.au
4. Stoney Vineyard Pinot Noir 2022 Tasmania, $40
The pinot noir produced at the renowned Domaine A vineyard in Tasmania’s Coal River Valley is a robust style that needs time in the bottle to mellow (the current vintage is the 2018). The same winery also makes more “approachable” wines from younger vines, under the Stoney Vineyard label, and while this vintage, from vines planted in 2019, does have some wonderful macerated plum flavours, the low-cropping, dry, late vintage has also resulted in some quite sturdy tannins and dark, sweet-humus-like characters. Very expressive and memorable. domaine-a.com.au
5. 2020 Vasse Felix Cabernet Sauvignon Margaret River, $55
The best way to compare wines – especially famous wines with lofty reputations – is to taste them blind, in masked bottles, with the order mixed up so you don’t know which is which. This is how I discovered how good (and what good value) this cabernet is: it was one of my top wines from a blind line-up that included more “prestigious” wines at two or three times the price. Absolutely classic varietal flavours of concentrated blackcurrant and “pencil shavings” cedar and graphite, with elegant but firm drive and power. vassefelix.com.au
6. 2022 Cirillo The Vincent Grenache Barossa Valley, $25
I first tasted this when I visited Marco Cirillo in the Barossa earlier this year working on a feature about how old-vine grenache, once overlooked and undervalued, is now one of the most sought-after wines in Australia. This example is produced from grenache grown in two vineyards, one planted in 1901, the other in 1906: it’s a super-vibrant and bold wine, full of flavours of dusky rose petal, black raspberry and a sprinkling of spice. Snappy, bright, dusty tannins, a joyful slurpy juiciness. Very moreish and outstanding value. cirilloestatewines.com.au
7. 2019 Antonio Madeira Vinhas Velhas Tinto Dao, $70
A brilliant introduction to the new wave of young Portuguese winemakers shaking up that country’s table wine scene. This wine is a co-fermented blend of more than 20 local red grape varieties including jaen (Spain’s mencia) and tinta amarela, grown in small plots of old vines – “vinhas velhas”– high in the hills of the Dao region north of Lisbon.
Beautiful flowing ripe purple fruit gives way to a dusting of cocoa-like bittersweet tannin; it’s the kind of wine that makes you crave espetada, garlicky beef skewers grilled over charcoal. Imported by qedwines.com.au
8. 2021 Murdoch Hill Orion Syrah Adelaide Hills, $91
It has been a great year for stunning shiraz (also known as syrah) from cooler-climate wine regions – wines such as the award-winning 2021 Ngeringa Iluma Syrah ($70) and the 2019 Seville Estate Dr McMahon Shiraz ($195). This is another standout example of the style: plush black fruit, concentrated but not heavy, with a sprinkling of black pepper and long, fine silky tannins. Very seductive now, but also has the stuffing and structure to develop beautifully in the cellar for a decade or more. murdochhill.com.au
The list includes a triumph of a semillon. Jennifer Soo 1. Briar Ridge Black Cluster Semillon 2023
Hunter Valley, $50
Classic Hunter semillon is the gift that keeps on giving: the perfect oyster wine when it’s young and mouthwateringly crisp, the perfect wine-geek wine when it’s been left to mature in the cellar for a decade or two to develop its trademark toasty richness. And this new single vineyard release is an absolute classic: delicate aromas of lemon pith and green apple, some crunchy snow peas, precise, refreshing, with a subtle but firm mineral drive. Buy two cases: one to drink this summer, one to drink in 20 years’ time. briarridge.com.au
2. Dune El Beyda 2022 McLaren Vale, $28
Two of the most exciting developments in white winemaking in Australia are the increasing focus on producing wines that have attractive texture on the tongue – and growing non-mainstream grape varieties that can provide that texture. This is a terrific example of what I’m talking about: a blend of grenache blanc, grenache gris and clairette – all relatively new to McLaren Vale – result in a wine with pale golden colour, pretty, honeyed, orange blossom aromatics and a lovely textural, grape-pulpy
quality. Excellent value. dunewine.com 3. Adelina Ruchioch Riesling 2022 Clare Valley, $35
From the thoroughly well-deserved winner of the 2023 Young Gun of Wine Vineyard of the Year award comes this gorgeous riesling, sourced from a block of certified organic vines in the Polish Hill River subregion of Clare. Really enticing aromatics of freshly squeezed cold grape juice and little white spring flowers, a slug of lime juice as the wine hits the tongue, and then the most extraordinary cascade of powdery chalky minerality that stretches the wine out through the palate. Bring on the salt-and-pepper calamari and lime aioli. adelina.com.au
4. Bannockburn Chardonnay 2022 Geelong, $70
There are so many fantastic premium Australian chardonnays around these days – particularly from the cooler 2022 vintage, which produced especially elegant styles in our top chardonnay regions – that I had many options to choose from to include here. But there’s something about this latest release from Bannockburn that I found irresistible. It has so much complexity but harmony and vibrancy, too: pure ripe Meyer-lemony fruit, a seamless hint of barely discernible oak, all effortlessly woven into the flowing structure. bannockburnvineyards.com
5. Argyros Cuvee Monsignori Old Vine Assyrtiko 2020 Santorini, $110
One of the best tastings I went to this year was of newly imported Greek wines, many produced from ancient varieties such as the white assyrtiko, which has been grown on the dry, windy, volcanic island of Santorini for thousands of years. This example, produced from Argyros’ oldest, lowest-yielding vines, has beautifully refined aromatics, floral, with some citrus and riper yellow fruit but subtle, teasing; then a long line of pretty, tangy minerality that unfurls along the tongue, satisfying and lingering. Imported by dejavuwines.com.au
6. Vignerons Schmolzer and Brown Obstgarten Selection Riesling 2021 Beechworth, $48
Whereas the Adelina is a fabulous example of the classic Australian dry riesling style, this is a shimmering example of the slightly sweet but dry-finishing riesling style inspired by wines produced in Germany. It is 10 per cent alcohol and contains around 40 grams per litre of grape sugar: bright yellow fruit – crunchy yellow peach, perhaps, or slightly underripe apricot – tumbles across the tongue carried by precise, focused citrussy acidity and a touch of marmaladey Botrytis complexity. Thrilling. vsandb.com.au
A snapshot of the increasing diversity of our drinking culture. Jennifer Soo 1. Etota Bittersweet Aperitivo Byron Bay, $50
This new aperitivo is the best new entrant to the increasingly crowded non-alcoholic drinks market I tasted this year. Made from more than a dozen fruits, herbs and spices – including gentian, rhubarb and rooibos – and sweetened (but not too much) with grape juice, it’s like a flavour-packed, rustic version of Campari that is excellent both with soda over ice (if you’re not drinking alcohol) and with gin or prosecco (if you are). I love the square-sided 500ml bottle, the aesthetics of the labelling, the versatility, the whole package. etotadrinks.com
2. Mouzon-Leroux L’incandescent Champagne, $150
I’ve been lucky enough to taste quite a few great champagnes this year, as well as some superb new Australian sparkling wines, but the standouts were the newly imported range from ninth-generation vigneron Sébastien Mouzon in Verzy, in the northern Montagne de Reims. All the wines in the range are good, but this rosé really impressed: 100 per cent pinot noir, three years on lees, it’s full of robust, “country wine” flavour: rosehip and red apple and hedgerow berries. Really delicious fizz. Imported by imbibo.com.au
3. 2018 Alpha Box & Dice Yolk McLaren Vale, $50
Winemaker Sam Berketa has a passion for “orange” wines (made from white grapes fermented and macerated with the skins) and makes that clear with this exceptional example. It’s made from very ripe semillon, fermented and macerated for 300 days on skins then pressed into barrel, where the wine spent four years before bottling. The result is a glowing golden tincture, full of ripe yellow fruit and exotic, fenugreek-like spice and a fully resolved, tender grip on the tongue. Tastes like autumn. Delicious. alphaboxdice.com
4. 2012 Seppelt Show Sparkling Shiraz Great Western, $100
I know, I know. Every year I urge you to consider including this classic Australian wine style in your Christmas drinking schedule. And, look, here I am again, tempting you with the latest vintage of Seppelt Show Shiraz, first made at Great Western in the 1890s: deep purple foaming in the glass, full of rich, dark aromas of squishy bramble berries and sweet soy, bold and chocolatey and super satisfying in the mouth. Is there a better wine match for roast turkey and glazed ham? I don’t think so. seppelt.com.au
5. 2021 Pastis Garagai Provence, $92
You’re probably familiar with the anise-scented spirit, pastis, from the big brands Pernod or Ricard: you might have drunk it on holiday in France. Well, this is artisanal pastis, produced in tiny quantities (5000 bottles a year) by a wine grower in Provence, using locally grown or foraged botanicals such as star anise, fennel flower, Marseille basil and sage.
Each botanical is macerated in spirit and then blended and the result is explosively flavoursome, endlessly complex – and nowhere near as sweet as commercial pastis. Santé! Imported by mosaiquewines.com.au
6. Cape Byron “The Original” Single Malt Byron Bay, $130
One of the boozy highlights of the year was tasting this gorgeous whisky at the distillery in the Byron hinterland: it has complex, elegant flavours of yellow fruit, floral honey and toasted coconut. I also managed to snag a rare bottle of Brookie’s Barrel Aged Mac. ($85) a richly nutty roasted macadamia and toasted wattleseed liqueur that has become a staple in our drinks cabinet. Unlike the whisky, the liqueur has since sold out: I strongly suggest signing up for a bottle of the next batch when it’s released. capebyrondistillery.com The December issue of AFR Magazine is out on Friday, November 24 inside The Australian Financial Review.
RELATED The top 20 wines of 2022 (many you might never have heard of) RELATED The 19 best drinks of the year (including a $20 bargain) The best of travel, fashion, cars and more, straight to your inbox. Sign up to our weekly newsletter.
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Max Allen Max Allen Drinks columnist Max Allen is The Australian Financial Review's drinks columnist. He is an award-winning journalist and author who has written about wine and drinks for close to 25 years. Connect with Max on Twitter. Email Max at max@maxallen.com.au LATEST IN FOOD & WINE AFR Magazine
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Max Allen Drinks columnist Max Allen is The Australian Financial Review's drinks columnist. He is an award-winning journalist and author who has written about wine and drinks for close to 25 years. Connect with Max on Twitter. Email Max at max@maxallen.com.au LATEST IN FOOD & WINE
