Murray Tyrrell AM (1921-2000) was a winemaker. Born in the Hunter Valley, Tyrrell served in the Pacific during World War II and became a cattle trader when he was repatriated. In 1959 he took over his uncle's winemaking duties at Tyrrell's Wines. The following year he had the idea of importing rockets from France to disperse hail clouds, and in 1961 he began to press for the establishment of a tourism movement in the Hunter Valley. In 1962 the first batch of his Long Flat Red was released; the label became an Australian classic. When Rothbury Estate was established by Len Evans, Tyrrell and nine co-founders in 1969, Tyrrell was placed in charge of vineyard development. In 1971 he pioneered Australia's first commercial chardonnay, and in 1973 he made the country's first oak-barrel fermented wine. Six years later, Tyrrell's won the Gault Millau Award for the World's Finest Pinot Noir and their Vat 6 Pinot Noir featured on the cover of Time magazine. By 1983 Tyrrell was widely known as 'the mouth of the Hunter' for his passionate advocacy for the region. A generous supporter of many national rugby league sides, he was equally interested in regional sports people, teams and clubs. He continued to promote the environmental integrity of the area into his seventies, when his company won a fight against a proposed open cut mine in the Hunter Valley.
