Excellence in Marlborough wine industry recognised with Lifetime Achievement Awards

Press Release: Sunday 20th October 2024

Five people from three different sectors of the wine industry have been recognised with Wine Marlborough Lifetime Achievement Awards for 2024.

Ben & Frances Wickham, of Ormond Nurseries, Rob Agnew, climate scientist, and Daniel & Adele Le Brun of No.1 Estate were all acknowledged with their awards at the Marlborough Wine Show Celebration Long Lunch, held on Friday.  

Wine Marlborough Ltd General Manager Marcus Pickens says the Wine Marlborough Lifetime Achievement Award was introduced in 2007 to recognise the work of the many people who have worked hard to make the industry what it is today.

“It’s no secret that Marlborough is home to many winemakers and winegrowers who have been working hard at their craft for some decades now. Alongside them, we have experts in many areas, including the likes of our scientists and horticulturists who have helped along the way, and continue to do so,” he says.

“Many of them have been involved from near the beginnings of our industry, creating a blueprint for others to follow when it comes to creating the optimal environment for growing and making wine.” 

For Rob Agnew, this has involved recording and interpreting meteorological data for the Marlborough region, providing a wealth of information to local winegrowers to help them with making the best decisions in the vineyard based on detailed weather analysis for each season.

He has been doing this for more than three decades, during which time he has been the Editor of The Met Report,a detailed monthly weather summary included in each month’s Winepress Magazine – for almost every issue since 1992. He was the glue behind VineFacts and its predecessor VineFax, long term Chair of the NMIT Viticulture Advisory Committee, and Plant and Food Research Scientist. In 2022, Rob was recognised with the MRC Award for his contribution to the MRC Campus.

Ben and Frances Wickham have led the way when it comes to grape propagation in Marlborough, relocating Ormond Nurseries here in 1995, following 18 years doing the same work in Gisborne. The couple has continued to innovate, establishing a vertically integrated nursery facility capable of producing two million vines a year, designed to assist with strict biosecurity protocols. The couple is a powerful duo, with Ben the 50-year nursery man and Frances the business instincts.

Daniel and Adele Le Brun have been pioneers in quality Marlborough sparkling wine, identifying qualities in Marlborough that would enable them to produce world-class sparkling wines with classic varieties Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier and Pinot Noir. The couple were involved with the inception of Mèthode Marlborough, a grower-led collective established to champion bottle-fermented sparkling wine within the region.

They were among the first growers to develop a vineyard in close planting, and created one of the first underground caves, to be used to slowly mature their wine, in the region.

Daniel and Adele have refused to compromise on quality, leading them to many awards and accolades. In 2021, they were made Fellows of New Zealand Winegrowers. In 2006, the couple was awarded the Chevalier of Agricole for Services to Agriculture, after receiving the equivalent of a French Knighthood – the Chevalier Order of Merit for Services to France in 1987.

The three Wine Marlborough Lifetime Achievement Awards were presented alongside 22 wine trophies from the 2024 Marlborough Wine Show, sponsored by QuayConnect. Read about them here.