NSW Wine Team

Mark is the owner of Cuttaway Hill Wines and is currently the longest serving wine producer in the Southern Highlands wine region with over 22 years’ experience in the wine industry including as a grape grower, viticultural consultant, winemaker and brand manager.  He was the founding president of The Southern Highlands Vignerons Association. He is also a Board of the National Wine and Grape Industry Centre (NWGIC) based at Charles Sturt University. His commitment to the Southern Highlands and the NSW wine industry is stronger than ever, and he is a passionate advocate and frequent representative for both at regional, state and national levels.

Angus has been involved in the NSW wine industry for many years, coming on the NSWWIA board in 2012 and becoming Executive Officer in April 2017. He is an experienced senior executive with expertise in marketing, sales and financial management both in Australia and Europe.

He had nearly 15 years with Pernod Ricard Winemakers across a wide variety of strategy, sales and marketing roles. He has been involved in many industry associations and was a graduate of the first induction of the ‘Future Leaders’ program. Angus also currently serves as the Treasurer of the Wine Communicators of Australia and as a Councillor of the RAS NSW.

Liz holds a Bachelor of Applied Science (Wine) and is also a Nuffield Farming Scholar. She started viticultural consulting (Vitbit) in 2000, after 8 years in the wine industry on a local, interstate and international basis, and was soon voted the Hunter Valley Wine Industry's Viticulturist of the Year and more recently the 2017 ASVO Viticulturist of the Year. Liz is currently an associate member of the Hunter Valley Wine Tourism Association and a member of the Australian Society of Viticulture and Oenology. Liz remains as a special qualifications director on the board of the Australian Wine Research Institute, a role she commenced in 2011.

Tim has recently returned to wine after a 12 year sojourn into the world of coffee where he ran one of NSW’s leading roasting businesses.

Prior to that he spent time with Southcorp, Handpicked and Reynolds Wines in various Sales and Marketing roles.  Now CEO of Cumulus Vineyards, he is passionate about the Orange region and the opportunity it presents as a leading cool climate region within the Australian landscape.

Andrew is currently a Projects and Development Manager at Casella Family Brands in Griffith. He has previously worked with Treasury Wine Estates and McWilliams Wines working in vineyard management and technical support in the Riverina, Mudgee, Coonawarra and Barossa Valley. Andrew has a Master of Oenology and Viticulture (CSU) and a Bachelor of Agricultural Science (University of Adelaide), and he currently also sits on the NWGIC Board.

Nicole is MD of Rowlee Wines in Orange. She is an experienced executive and non-executive director with over 20 years in corporate strategy and business transformation. Nicole brings a wide range of skills and experience from start-ups, Australian Stock Exchange-listed (ASX) companies and not-for-profit organisations. Nicole holds of Bachelor of Business, an MBA and is a graduate member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Nicole is President of the Orange Region Vignerons Association.

Byron is a legal, public policy and corporate affairs professional employed by Pernod Ricard Winemakers as Public Affairs Manager since December 2018. He has broad experience across the private and public sectors. He has to advised senior government ministers in the Victorian and Commonwealth Governments; firstly as a tax and legal policy adviser to the Victorian Treasurer and later as senior Adviser to the Federal Treasurer on tax and superannuation policy. He returned to the private sector as a consultant to PwC on government engagement, tax and economic policy issues.

Andrew followed in his father’s footsteps and was granted early acceptance at the Charles Sturt University Oenology course (Wine Science degree) and joined the family business as an assistant winemaker. Today Andrew spends his time spreading the word about the Calabria family wine portfolio. “The best part about my job is that wine is universal and I have the opportunity to see the reaction of the consumer when they try my families wine. This is the best marketing research that money cannot buy!” In 2017 Andrew became President of the Riverina Winemakers Association.

Geoff came to the wine industry after more than a half century working in the feature film and TV industries on Australian and foreign productions mostly as Cinematographer but also as a writer, director or producer. In 2006 he purchased a small vineyard in the Canberra District with his partner Sharon Bell and their winemaker son Matthew Burton. Four years later they launched GUNDOG ESTATE and expanded their production portfolio to include Hunter Valley wines. They operate Cellar Doors in Pokolbin and Gundaroo. Geoff is currently the President of the Canberra District Wine Industry Association.

Manda has over 20 years experience in Sales Management in Cellar Door Operations, working with both small and large teams across sales and marketing, training and development, staff selection, continuity wine club development and implementation whilst dedicated to regional wine tourism.

She is currently the General Manager Wandin Estate, Lovedale, Hunter Valley.

Juliet Cullen is the President of Tumbarumba Vignerons Association and owner of Excelsior Peak Vineyard. She is a pioneer of the Tumbarumba wine region, planting her first vineyard with Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in 1981. As well as hands-on farming, Juliet has had a parallel career in marketing and media in the private and public sectors, along with stakeholder engagement in agriculture. Juliet joined the Board of the NSW Wine Industry Association in 2020.

Sam is a 2nd generation wine-grape grower and producer in Mudgee, who runs the family business, Vinifera Wines, alongside parents Tony & Debbie. Sam oversees all aspects of the business including vineyard management, cellar door operations, sales and marketing. Sam holds a Bachelor of Business (Marketing) and is currently completing further studies in viticulture. Sam sits as the secretary of the Mudgee Wine Association and head of the Mudgee Wine Association Promotions Committee.

Bruno is a 3rd generation wine grape grower in Nericon - 15km north of Griffith. He runs the daily operations of his vineyard with the help of his father Sergio, who has gained a wealth of knowledge in his 55 years in viticulture. Together they have managed to grow their family farm and combine new technologies with hard work and traditions to improve grape quality over the years. Bruno is working towards passing the knowledge and love of viticulture on to his children. He has been a board member of the Riverina Wine Grape Growers since 2011. Bruno believes in promoting the Riverina as a quality wine region and the combining of technology and traditions is the key to the region succeeding and retaining more young people on farms.

John has clocked up over 40 years experience in the wine industry since graduating in oenology at Roseworthy. He worked with Murray Tyrrell and experienced vintages in Burgundy and Bordeaux.  John is Chief Winemaker and owner of Cassegrain Wines in Port Macquarie.  John’s French ancestry has influenced his wine making throughout his career, though the focus has been to do this with modern techniques using multi-regional grapes grown across NSW.  John is also passionate about supporting all things local and served on the Port Macquarie Hastings tourism board and the Port Macquarie Hastings Council tourism taskforce for several years during a period which resulted in greatly increased tourism into the region and the establishment of ongoing markets and regular events.

Will has over 20 years experience in financial services, corporate advisory and executive management with a passion for the Australian wine industry and his family’s winery, De Beaurepaire Wines. Will initially worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers where he ran a wine advisory group within their agribusiness advisory group. He has also worked at Goldman Sachs JBWere, Macquarie Bank and for his own advisory business which worked with a number of wineries, Wine Australia, technology businesses and junior miners. Throughout this time, Will worked alongside his family in De Beaurepaire Wines. He recently scaled back his other roles to dedicate his time to De Beaurepaire Wines where he is responsible for wine production, sales and marketing.

Geoff is General Manager and part owner of Brokenwood Wines. He joined the company as their first General Manager in 2004. With over 30 years’ experience in the wine industry, Geoff oversees all facets of production, marketing, cellar door and domestic sales, and is actively involved in building export distribution and sales globally. Geoff has also served as a member for the National Independent Liquor Wholesalers Association and has helped to build brands such as McGuigan Wines, Champagne Lanson and Louis Jadot Burgundy. Geoff is a past President of the Hunter Valley Wine Industry Association and sat on its Board from 2005-2011. He sat on the Executive of the New South Wales Wine Industry Association from 2006-2010 heading its Marketing Committee in 2008 and has recently returned to the board.

Alex is currently the National Cellar Door Operations Manager for Australian Vintage,
where he has been for over 15 years. Since joining the company in 2006, he’s held various positions across sales, key accounts, cellar door management as well as hands-on in the winery.

Alex is passionate about communicating about wine and assisting people to evolve
their understanding and appreciation of wine.