The story behind St Hugo’s ‘The Last Letter’

“A cabernet sauvignon from Barossa!?” is what many a wine aficionado might ask before sampling the berry and spice of a 2013 ‘Last Letter’ from St. Hugo (which features on the Cellar Door List at Seventeen). However, it is the story that gives you even more of a reason to engage with this drop. And, as a St. Hugo’s flagship, Seventeen is thrilled to be showcasing such a decadent wine.

Coming from a long line of vineyard royals (his grandfather, Johann Gramp, was the pioneer vigneron in the Hunter region, and responsible for introducing Carte Blanche to Australia), Louis Hugo Gramp made quite the name for himself as a revered judge of wines. As managing director of G.Gramp & Sons, Louis Hugo also managed to expand the operation and capacity of family-owned vineyards in Orlando, Barossa, and still managed to hone a family.

On October 25, 1938, Louis Hugo boarded a flight to Canberra. He was in the company of 25 other vignerons from South Australia, including the legendary Tom Hardy and Sidney Hill Smith. In a tragic twist, the flight never made it to Canberra, and everyone on board perished, leaving their respective families, and the Australian wine industry, completely devastated.

Days before the flight, Louis Hugo had written and sent letter to his son, Colin Gramp, who was attending a boarding school in Adelaide at the time of the crash. Colin, a young 17 year-old, heard the news of his father’s passing over the radio. The next day, the letter arrived. It was signed “your loving Dad”.

Years later, the history and tragic end of Louis Hugo’s legacy is epitomised in each and every drop of a St. Hugo ‘Last Letter’. For us at Seventeen, drinking a bottle of this wine is less about detecting each and every flavour note (although there are plenty to enjoy) and more about remembering the talent that perished on that tragic day, along with the bond between father and son – something neither time, nor space can change.