Vale Hazel Murphy AM by Robert Joseph

Vale Hazel Murphy AM

THERE WERE FEWER THAN 10,000 CASES OF AUSTRALIAN WINE WORTH $1.4 MILLION SOLD IN BRITAIN WHEN HAZEL MURPHY AM WAS APPOINTED TO THE ROLE OF CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF THE AUSTRALIAN WINE BUREAU UK IN 1985, THEN A PART OF AUSTRALIAN WINE AND BRANDY CORPORATION (WINE AUSTRALIA). BY THE TIME SHE RETIRED THE ROLE 17 YEARS LATER IN 2002, 2.2 MILLION CASES OF AUSTRALIAN WINE SOLD OVER BRITAIN AND EUROPE WORTH $897.1 MILLION.

Words Robert Joseph

Hazel Murphy was one of a kind. That’s a phrase that’s often overused, but as anyone who worked with, or even simply met, Hazel it was true. We first met in 1985 soon after she took over the reins of Australian wine exports in the UK when they were worth just $1.4m. She had helped to market other things, including, if I recall correctly, trainers, but wine was a major challenge, not least because, on the one hand, there were Brits who knew of Kanga Rouge and Monty Python jokes about wine to lay down and avoid, while on the other there were people like the then head of Penfolds who absolutely did not believe there was any point in trying to persuade overseas consumers to buy anything from his country’s vineyards.

Thanks to the support of people like Bob Oatley and Chris Hancock of Rosemount, who were hugely supportive in those early years, Hazel’s unerring ability to identify people who could help her achieve her goals - and her refusal to take no for an answer, ensured she got things moving in the first decade. Nothing was more effective, however than her decision to facilitate a trip - ‘the Wine Flight of a Lifetime’ to Australia by 110 assorted members of the UK trade. It was in February 1992, and I remember it well, because, Oz Clarke, Tim Atkin and I each were charged with looking after a third of the group. The travellers had to make a modest contribution to the cost of the trip, but most of the tab was picked up by the wineries, all of which paid a chunk of dollars plus the expenses of entertaining the Poms. Among their guests were buyers from supermarkets and major distributors like Adnams and Liberty, but there were also people with a small wine shop or bar. What possible use, I wondered, would these people be to wineries looking to ship thousands of cases to the UK? How wrong I was. Hazel had, before the invention of the internet, understood the concept of social media and influencers. Everyone who was on the trip fell in love with Australia, and the Wine Flight helps to explain why Liberty, previously an Italian-focused business broadened its focus to welcome so many Aussie wines. But the smaller retailers were, if anything, more influential. They became Australian evangelists, spreading the word among hundreds of their customers, each of whom introduced many of their friends, and so on.

Small in stature, with a glorious, ready smile and a resistance to bullshit, Hazel was a British northerner to her fingertips. She was also created by nature to work in Australia and with Australians. She stood up to some classic ‘ocker’ behaviour from men who made the mistake of underestimating her, and she earned the respect and friendship of a long list of producers.

Her legacy lives on, in Britain and in Australia and far, far beyond. We all miss her.

Hazel had, before the invention of the internet, understood the concept of social media and influencers.