{{Short description|Australian winemaker and surgeon (1924–2009)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2014}} {{Use Australian English|date=September 2014}} '''Max Emory Lake''', OAM (24 July 1924 – 14 April 2009) was an Australian winemaker and surgeon, who is generally regarded as the "father of the Australian boutique wine industry".<ref name = "JN">[http://www.smh.com.au/national/obituaries/a-knowing-nose-and-father-of-boutique-wine-20090417-aa42.html Newton, John (2009) "A knowing nose and father of boutique wine"], ''Sydney Morning Herald'', 17 April 2009</ref>
==Early life and education== Lake was born in 1924 in Albany, in upstate New York<ref name = "JN"/> in the United States, where his parents, David and Hannah, worked in the film industry. He had a sister and three brothers. His family moved to Sydney where his father ran the Australian division of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.<ref>[http://www.jancisrobinson.com/articles/a200904151.html Vale Max Lake] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090418004821/http://www.jancisrobinson.com/articles/a200904151.html |date=18 April 2009 }}, Jancis Robinson, 14 April 2009.</ref> Lake went to Bellevue Hill Public School and then Sydney Boys' High School.<ref name = "JN"/>
He studied medicine at the University of Sydney, where he met another medical student, Joy Townsend, his future wife.
==Career==
===Surgical career=== Following graduation from the University of Sydney, Lake studied surgery at the Royal College of Surgeons in England in the early 1950s<ref name = "JN"/> and went on to become the first Australian surgeon to specialise in hand surgery.<ref name="FilmAusBio">[https://web.archive.org/web/20060506013340/http://www.filmaust.com.au/programs/teachers_notes/8924ausbio_lakenotes.pdf Australian Biography: Max Lake], Film Australia, 2005.</ref> He gave up his work as a surgeon in 1979 to concentrate on his interest in wine and food.<ref name = "JN"/>
===Winemaking career=== In 1963, Lake founded Lake's Folly, a winery in the Hunter Region in New South Wales considered to be Australia's first boutique winery and a major influence on the Australian wine industry. In 1988, ''The Bulletin'' magazine called Lake "the man who started the (Australian) wine boom".<ref name="mattinson">Mattinson, Campbell: [http://www.winefront.com.au/news-industry-legend-max-lake-dies/ Industry legend Max Lake dies], ''Wine Front'', 15 April 2009.</ref>
His wife and son, Stephen, were active in the winery. Stephen said that "Dad was the boss, Mum the brains and I was the brawn".<ref name = "JN"/>
In addition to making wine, Lake wrote widely on wine and food. In 1966, he published the landmark book ''Classic Wines of Australia'',<ref name="FilmAusBio" /> followed by several other books about wine including ''Hunter Wine'', ''Scents and Sensuality'' and ''Food on the Plate, Wine in the Glass''.<ref name="beeston">{{cite book |title=A Concise History of Australian Wine |last=Beeston |first=John |year=2001 |publisher=Allen & Unwin |location=Sydney |isbn=1-86508-547-2 }}</ref> Many of these books relate to his third career as a "flavourolgist", his description of his "attempt to understand how taste, smell and flavour shaped humanity". Flavour and pleasure were two guiding principles in his life.
==Death== Lake died on 14 April 2009, aged 84, at his home in Longueville on Sydney's Lower North Shore, after sustaining a head injury from a fall.<ref name="mattinson" /><ref>Hawkins, Peter: [http://www.smh.com.au/national/aussie-wine-pioneer-max-lake-dies-20090415-a7gk.html Aussie wine pioneer Max Lake dies], ''The Sydney Morning Herald'', 16 April 2009.</ref>
==Personal life== Lake married fellow medical student Joy Townsend in 1948.<ref name = "JN"/> Max and Joy had twins, David and Paula, who were born in Brisbane in 1950, and Stephen, born in Sydney in 1955.<ref name = "JN"/>
==Honours== In the 2002 Australia Day Honours, Lake was awarded the Order of Australia Medal for service to the establishment of the boutique wine industry in Australia as a winemaker, judge, promoter and author.<ref>[https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/1132517 LAKE, Max Emory], ''It's an Honour'' (Australian Government), 26 January 2002.</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20091004014243/http://www.maxlake.com.au/ Lake Enterprises official website] *[http://www.lakesfolly.com.au/ Lake's Folly Vineyard]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lake, Max}} Category:1924 births Category:2009 deaths Category:Accidental deaths from falls in Australia Category:American emigrants to Australia Category:Australian orthopaedic surgeons Category:Australian wine critics Category:Australian winemakers Category:Businesspeople from Albany, New York Category:Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Category:Sydney Medical School alumni Category:20th-century Australian surgeons Category:20th-century American businesspeople Category:People educated at Sydney Boys High School Category:20th-century American surgeons