me on what to look for with wine, the different tannins, smells, tastes and different styles. He was so keen on it and the whole process. Dean’s influence is definitely there,” he says. Allan’s wife Jane also got involved. “Jane and I did a blind-tasting with wine- maker Mark Hunter, Tony’s son. We had four samples taken from four big vats of shiraz in different stages of fermentation and processing. We would go around and around blending different percentages of the different wines until we came up with the final one. “Mark would take us through what his preference was and we would go with what our tastebuds were telling us. Slowly but surely, we came up with the winner. Jane and I were closely aligned in our tasting.” Allan’s aptly named Maiden Tonne Shiraz refers to both the cricket great’s maiden century in 1979 against Pakistan at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (ton is the cricket term for 100 runs) and his first crack at winemaking, where he had a hand in turning a tonne or two of grapes into a fine drop. Only 2,000 bottles were originally released to be sold by a ballot (which was quickly oversubscribed), and there may be more blends in the future.
“I’ve had a great run as far as commentary and my life after cricket but I am starting to think it’s time to do different things.”
HITTING THEM FOR SIX
1955-1978 Allan grows up in Mosman, Sydney opposite an oval later renamed after him. Aged 16, he makes his grade cricket debut as a left-arm orthodox spin bowler, but his batting skills soon shine. He is selected for the Australian team in 1978, arriving at a tumultuous time when many top players are joining the breakaway World Series Cricket league.
1980 He weds his teenage sweetheart Jane Hiscox and moves to Queensland. A long-time world record holder of the most test matches played in a row (153), Allan goes on to juggle his cricket commitments with welcoming four children with his wife.
Celebrating with great friend Dean Jones (left) after captaining Australia to its first Cricket World Cup win in 1987.
22
DARE SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2023
Powered by FlippingBook