Australians are becoming more adventurous in their drinking tastes, a trend that mirrors our explosion of the nation's food culture, says wine expert Max Allen.

"Australian gastronomic culture has long moved beyond a daily diet of meat-and-two-veg," Allen says. 

"You used to be a wine person or a beer person, or you used to be a gin or a whisky drinker. But there's a current generation of people exploring alcohol in all it forms, and they are much more likely not to tie themselves down to one brand or one kind of drink. 

"We're becoming so much more adventurous and curious, and that's what I'm trying to capture in my columns."

​Allen has joined The Australian Financial Review as its wine and drinks columnist. He will write each week for Life & Leisure and for the award-winning AFR Magazine. His first column is in this week's Life and Leisure.

"The appointment of Max Allen as wine and drinks writer across the masthead highlights our strong commitment to the food and wine sector," said the Financial Review's editor-in-chief, Michael Stutchbury. 

"Our readers are keen to enjoy the best of what life has to offer. We take seriously our job of informing them about new drinks, restaurants and trends, with the mixture of style and substance for which we are renowned."

The editor of The AFR Magazine, Katrina Strickland, said: "Max has always been ahead of his time as a drinks communicator. He has a fresh and fearless take on the scene that I think our readers will love."

Allen said his columns would cross boundaries. "If I think back on what I've drunk just in the past seven days: beer from around the world, from breweries in Mexico, London, Adelaide. I've drunk whisky distilled in Scotland but aged in Burgundy; English sparkling wine; grenache from the Yarra Valley; gin from Margaret River and more.

"I'm not alone here: three of the trendiest drink styles these days in our bottle shops and bars are pale dry rosé, sparkling prosecco and vermouth, which straddles the line between wine and spirits and liqueurs."

Allen has been writing about wine and other drinks for 25 years. He is a columnist for Australian Gourmet Traveller and Gourmet Traveller WINE, and the Australian correspondent for jancisrobinson.com. Until recently he was a columnist for The Australian. His award-winning books include Red and White: Wine Made Simple (1997); The Future Makers: Australian Wines for the 21st Century (2011); The History of Australian Wine 1900-2000 (2012); and Wine Know How (2013).