Debbie Lauritz – Senior Winemaker

Debbie Lauritz is an extremely talented and accomplished winemaker. Working along side Philip Shaw, they have impressed the show judges in 2007, winning three trophies, seven gold medals, fifteen silver medals, and forty bronze medals.

Debbie is Australian, and grew up in a wine loving family in Brisbane. In secondary school, Debbie was selected for a Rotary International Student Exchange Scholarship to France. Her host family lived in Burgundy, and it was this experience that ignited her great passion for premium wine.

An oenology graduate of the prestigious Adelaide University, Debbie has become a cool climate specialist, having made wine overseas  in the cool regions of Alsace, France; Marlborough, New Zealand; Niagara, Canada; Sonoma, California, and here in Australia at Piper’s River in Tasmania and in  the Victorian High Country in Australia.  Debbie has worked with Philip Shaw at Cumulus for the last two vintages and now leads the winemaking team.  

Her winemaking philosophy is in line with best Australian tradition - that wines must have “a generosity of flavour”. In the Cumulus Wines context this is achieved by always selecting flavour ripe grapes, with bright fruit characters. This ensures that those bright fruit flavours are the main character in the wine. Other wine features, such as oak, yeast, malolactic, tannin, acidity and alcohol play a supporting role in the presentation of the exquisite fruit flavours. Wines should always have the elegant structure that is complimentary with modern cuisine, and to that end that alcohol levels are moderate.

Now in the role of Senior Winemaker, Debbie is enjoying working with the wonderful resources of the Cumulus Wines Estate vineyard.