Interview with Colin Raymond Gramp [transcript] Interviewer: Rob Linn

Colin Gramp is a direct descendant of Johann Gramp who came to South Australia in 1837 and made his first Riesling at Jacob's Creek in the Barossa Valley in 1850. Colin's father, Hugo Gramp, along with Tom Hardy and Sydney Hill Smith, was one the three South Australian winemakers killed in the Kyeema air disaster in 1938. The strength of this interview is in the fact that Colin Gramp integrates the history of winemaking in South Australia with the history of Orlando, the family wine company until 1970. After completing his secondary education at St. Peter's College, Colin spent 1941/2 studying oenology at Roseworthy Agricultural College. He joined the the RAAF in 1942 and was demobbed in 1945. During leave in England, he visited the company's agents there. On his way home, Colin with two other winemakers, spent three months in California where he learnt how to modernise the Australian wine industry through automation and bulk handling. In 1947, Colin Gramp was appointed Technical Director of Gramps Orlando at a time when 80% of wine grapes were made into fortified wine. In 1953 Gramps purchased two cold and pressure fermentation tanks which prevented oxidation. These enabled Orlando to make and market Barossa Pearl, light sparkling wine very popular in its day. Colin's description of the making of Barossa Pearl is very detailed as is his account of the introduction of the Orlando Ribbon series. Colin believes that the name Orlando comes from the German name for Rowland. He concludes with the hope that there will be a return in the demand for fine sherries

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