A Natural Fit For Tamburlaine

Andrew Higgins has joined Tamburlaine Organic Wines as Head of Winemaking for the Orange Region. Andrew (formally McWilliams) joins at an exciting time for Tamburlaine, who has recently added a 12,000-tonne winery and 507 hectares of vineyard to its Central West operations.

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Andrew forms part of a growing crew of winemaking talent at Tamburlaine, including Shannon Burgess-Moore (ex-De Iuliis), Will Gardener (ex-Australian Vintage Limited), Zoe Rudlin (ex-First Creek) and Raffa Pacifici (ex-D ’Abruzzo, Italy), a team that Managing Director Mark Davidson considers to be the strongest team he’s worked with throughout his 37-year career.

“The vast majority of our wine production is now based in Orange. This is very different to the single-site, relatively small production winery I have previously operated,” Mark said.

“To produce the best wine as well as the necessary production efficiency in a facility like Cudal requires particular skills, and Andrew is a natural fit. Our ground-breaking work over the years involving organics, vegan fining agents and winemaking without added sulphur may be in part new to Andrew, but he instinctively understands how much the industry and consumers continue to change.”

Following the recent sale of McWilliams, so ended Andrew’s admirable 18-year career commitment. Over that time, he progressed through the ranks to Chief Winemaker and has been a quiet achiever who accumulated all the technical skills supplemented with international experience in France and the US.

“I am super excited with the opportunity of coming on board in a lead role with the Tamburlaine winemaking team,” Andrew said.

Tamburlaine has swiftly become one of the fastest-growing brands in Australia, with its 57-year-old operation in the Hunter Valley and 12,000-tonne winery at Cudal outside Orange NSW supported by 800 hectares of premium organically run vineyards in the Orange region and Hunter Valley.

Since taking over the Cudal winery in 2019, Tamburlaine has invested in ‘premiumising’ the facility and Andrew will continue the focus on appropriate winery upgrades and honing winemaking specifications.