MEET THE SOMM | Max Melvin

16 July 2026

A Sommelier in the London Club, which he joined in 2023, Max Melvin came to wine after a degree in fine arts and an abortive career in pub management. He tells us how his journey eventually led him to 67 Pall Mall…

Along with my twin brother Jak, I was born in Stevenage, just north of London, in 1991 (a terrible vintage almost everywhere). Stevenage doesn’t have the best reputation, but we lived just outside the town, in an idyllic little village called Aston – surrounded by woodland, rolling hills and fords, which I spent most of my childhood exploring. 

My other companion for many years was a complete colour book of Van Gogh’s paintings, which I’d been given as a Christening gift. I’d spend my time carefully copying all the images from that book. I come from a family of creative types – my father was a film director, my mother a ballet dancer, and from an early age I dreamt of being an artist. 

One day I got chatting about wine to a customer, who turned out to be Pete Goss, the owner of the broker and merchant Mayfly Wine. He could tell I was more interested in the subject than most bar managers, and he and his wife Sophie were just re-opening the nearby Kings Head as a wine shop-cum-pub. So he would set up little blind tastings for me, showing me different styles of wine, and establishing reference points within each one. He told me about the WSET and CMS [Court of Master Sommelier] courses, and opened my eyes to the possibility of being a sommelier rather than a publican. He even told me about 67, and I began really studying wine, reading and reading, and starting out on the WSET courses. 

Eventually I moved back to London, where I got a job at The Leicester Arms on Glasshouse Street. While I was there, I was doing my WSET Level Three and my Introductory Certificate with the CMS, all while searching for a role in the wine world. I finally managed to get an interview at 67, even though I could tell they weren’t too convinced by my credentials. Most of the somms here had experience of working in a Michelin-starred restaurant or somewhere, whereas I’d been working in pubs. I knew my beers, and how to treat a cask, but fine dining service was new to me. Fortunately though, we’d travelled quite a lot around Europe as a family, to all the places where my mum danced, and we always got dressed up and went to nice restaurants. I think I’d learned some of the art of service by osmosis and Elton [Muço, Head Sommelier and Lounge Operations] could see this on my trial shift. I remember him saying that he thought my character and personality were perfect for the Lounge – but that I needed to work on my wine knowledge. 

That wasn’t hard, in this environment. I started at the Club in October 2023 and I’ve learned so much since. Before then, I’d been studying wine relentlessly for two years. But nothing beats actually seeing, holding and tasting the wines, the bottles, the history, on a daily basis. You start to understand the wines very, very quickly, and the fact that we have such a massive selection by the glass means you’re constantly in contact with all these names. That amount of exposure taught me way more than simply reading facts from a book. 

I’m a bit of a traditionalist, and in terms of favourite wines, I’ve gravitated particularly towards fortified wine. I have a nice collection of Port and Madeira from my birth year, which was a declared vintage, and about the only area of Europe where ‘91 was a good year. Fortified wine is such a singular type of wine, with a wonderful sense of place and history, and I’m always keen to share that with Members. Though I haven’t lost my love of real ale. My next goal is to introduce a mini beer festival to the Club – though I think Elton will take some convincing…