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Galafrey Wines - Remembering Ian Tyrer – 10 years on

Announcement posted by Strategy Media 10 Sep 2013

Memory of Ian Tyrer lives on in Galafrey Wines

How does a family-owned winery survive the untimely death of an integral member of its team?

That was the challenge faced by mother and daughter, Linda and Kim Tyrer, from Galafrey Wines in Mt Barker, Western Australia, when their husband and father, Ian, died of cancer 10 years ago in 2003.

At 25 years of age, Kim’s part time job at Galafrey suddenly became full-time and she was thrust into the responsible position of running a vineyard and winery.

Ian Tyrer was a pioneer and passionate promoter of the Mt Barker wine region.

Today the Galafrey team includes Kim’s husband Nigel Rowe and their three-year-old son Jack.

In the years since Ian’s passing, Linda and Kim have maintained a hands-on role ensuring the Galafrey philosophy instilled by Ian of producing high quality fruit and exceptional wines lives on.

In addition, they have established a reputation for innovative marketing of their dry grown wines, continued to champion the Mt Barker wine region so-loved by Ian, and won various industry and business awards.

Kim recalls it wasn’t easy in the early days and weeks after her father’s death as they were faced with a steep learning curve.

“When Dad died people kept asking us what we were going to do with Galafrey and were we going to sell. A lot of the questions centred on Ian’s dominance as the winemaker and how we would move forward without him,” Kim said.

In the first five years, Kim and Linda decided not to change too much in the business. But the reality was that Kim could not physically run the business like her father did, so there were some immediate operational changes made.

“Over the past five years we have redone our business plan and focused on what we want to do and how we want to do it,” Kim said.

“We have realised what is important is the fact our grapes are dry grown, some of the oldest in the region and under family ownership. So we changed our label to reflect this which was something we hadn’t done with dad.”

Not only has Linda and Kim battled with their family challenges, the past seven years for the wine industry in Australia have been difficult ones. But in true Tyrer style, Kim and Linda have just got on with it; getting involved in various groups, programs and community initiatives – all with the aim of learning and contributing.

“When Kim was chosen for the Grow Zone Program with the Agriculture Department that made a big difference to what we did. It made us make harder decisions, set goals and timeframes - so that gave us focus,” Linda said.

“As a result I think we feel more confident about knowing how to do things, and after some challenging times in the industry we know we have a future.”

There are many parallels to Ian and Kim with both heavily involved in the community through various organisations, and having a deep commitment to the region. In fact, Linda believes Kim is more driven than her father was.

“Kim is obsessive about improving the wine. When she started winemaking Galafrey was getting 90 /91 points and it is now getting 93/ 94 but she wants to get 95 points,” Linda said.

As for the future, it certainly looks bright with the family committed to the region.

“Hopefully, we will be here for the next 30 years - me and Nigel with Jack. We will be concentrating on making our vineyard more efficient. It’s about being smart about costs of production, and we are looking to replant two blocks which fits with the original plan.”

Both women believe they have managed to keep Ian’s memory alive these past 10 years through the winery.

“Even though he is not here, his presence is always felt,” Linda said.

“The Ian Tyrer story plays an integral part in the marketing of Galafrey Wines – that’s very important to us,” Kim said.

 “I think you can tell when wine is made by someone who cares. We have and will continue our passion for Galafrey and the area and that I believe is reflected in our wines.”

Galafrey Wines: http://www.galafreywines.com.au/