Andrew Leembruggen
Winemaker, Mount Pleasant

Andrew Leembruggen, born in 1976, joined McWilliam’s Mount Pleasant Winery in the Hunter Valley as a cellar hand in 1998 and was promoted to winemaker in June 2002. He reports to Mount Pleasant Chief Winemaker and Manager, Phil Ryan.

In this role, Andrew is responsible for the production of McWilliam’s award winning range of Mount Pleasant wines, including the flagship Maurice O’Shea Shiraz, single-vineyard Rosehill Shiraz, OP&OH Shiraz and Lovedale Semillon, as well as Elizabeth Semillon, the most consistently awarded white wine in Australia.

He has completed vintages in the southern Rhone Valley in France (2001) at Chateau Joanny, a 2000 tonne winery that produces Côte du Rhone red and white wines, Chateauneuf du Pape reds, and a Côte du Rhone Village reserve wine; and in Coonawarra in South Australia (2001) at the Brand’s of Coonawarra winery.

In 2002 Andrew held the position of contract winemaker at Chateau du Seuil in Bordeaux in France, and was responsible for the production of Graves red and white wines. In this position Andrew grappled with the complexities of the French “Appellation” system which further enhanced his understanding and respect for the importance of vineyard site selection, aspect and microclimate – better known as “Terroir”.

Andrew is a founding committee member of the Young Hunter Valley Winemakers Association, and, since 2003, has been a Trainee and Associate Judge at the Hunter Valley Wine Show – Australia’s most respected regional wine show. This year he completed the Australian Wine Research Institutes Advanced Palate Assessment Course in Adelaide.

Andrew lives on Mount Pleasant’s historic Kings Vineyard – on the original Kings Selection which provided fruit essential to the successful foundation of Mount Pleasant in 1921.