Pioneers of Méthode Traditionelle in New Zealand for 40 years, Adele and Daniel Le Brun launched No.1 Family Estate, their family-owned winery, in July 1997.

Steeped in history and tradition, Daniel’s winemaking roots in Champagne date back to 1684. He crafts his wines using the same process perfected over 12 generations, by his champagne-making family in France.

The No.1 Family Estate winery and vineyard is set in Marlborough’s beautiful Wairau Valley. The combination of soils and climate, that is consistent every year, reminds Daniel of Champagne in its best vintage years. The winery is set up with processing equipment imported from his homeland.

Today, No.1 Family Estate is the only winery in New Zealand committed exclusively to producing premium Méthode Traditionelle.

Adele and Daniel Le Brun have been pioneers of Méthode Traditionelle in New Zealand for 40 years. This is a story that spans generations, with roots in Champagne but its heart now firmly in Marlborough. 

• 1684 - First record of a Le Brun planting vines in Champagne

• 1791 - First recorded date of a Le Brun producing wine in Champagne. Recent renovations by Daniel’s sister Isabelle at the family winery in the village of Monthelon has revealed an engraved date 1791 on the family heirloom press.

• 1945 – 1974 Daniel grew up working on the family vineyards in Champagne. He went on to complete his oenology and winemaking studies at the Champagne School in Avize. As the eldest son and 12th generation vigneron he was set to take over the family business from his father.

• 1975 - After hearing tales from grape pickers of a terroir and sunshine hours to rival that of his native Champagne Daniel set off to explore the antipodes. He began researching and visiting potential sites to find the perfect location for his Méthode Traditionelle vineyard. He quickly fell in love with New Zealand, which became his focus.

• 1978 - Daniel met Adele in Rotorua and as she cared for her dying mother, he put his location search on hold. Having heard of Montana planting vines, Daniel visited Marlborough for the first time.

“I was immediately convinced this was the place to be. The soil and the climate reminded me of Champagne in the best vintage years, yet it happens every year here in Marlborough. There was no winery infrastructure back then, just bare paddocks with almost desert -like conditions, not a blade of green grass to be seen, just a few dusty sheep and that was about it.” 

 Daniel Le Brun 

• 1978 - While still living in Rotorua Daniel began collecting vine cuttings from vineyards in the North Island to establish a nursery, and grow the vines that would become his first Marlborough vineyard. In a time when Muller Thurgau was predominant with a small amount of Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc, he stuck with the classic Champagne varietals Pinot noir, Chardonnay, and Pinot Meunier.

• 1979 - Adele and Daniel were married in January and 18 months later their first child Virginie was born. Daniel made the decision to sell some of his vineyards in Champagne to his brother in anticipation of financing a future move to Marlborough.

• 1980 - Adele and Daniel, along with 4-month-old daughter Virginie, made the move to Marlborough. Daniel brought with him 50,000 cuttings from his Rotorua nursery. These hand-grown vines went into cool storage until they purchased 30 acres along State Highway 6 to plant their first Marlborough vineyard and a site in Renwick (where Mahi is today) for the winery.

  Daniel took on a second job, developing and managing vineyards for absentee owners while he waited for his vines to grow and imported specialised equipment to arrive. To develop his vineyard and Méthode Traditionelle venture from scratch took significant investment and many years before the wines would be commercially available.

“Working grower vineyards by day and his own vineyard at night, it was no surprise that neighbours referred to me as ‘The Widow’.”  –  Adele Le Brun 

• 1983 - Daniel began construction of his winery, including New Zealand’s first underground  cellar, which involved shifting a hillside. He was New Zealand’s pioneer for classic  Méthode Traditionelle as a commercial venture. His growing techniques and production  methods used in Champagne were unknown here and he soon became known as ‘The  Crazy Frenchman’. 

  Daniel’s vines were ready for their first harvest and New Zealand’s first commercial  traditional method winemaking journey moves forward. The first harvest was pressed at  Hunter’s Wines. 

• 1984 - A specialised Champagne press ‘Vaslin Champagne 4000’ used specifically for the  production of Méthode Traditionelle arrived after 5 months in transit from France. This  press is integral to the traditional method and is still used in the No.1 Family Estate winery today. 

• 1984 - A committee initiated by Ernie Hunter was set up to celebrate and educate the public on Marlborough wine. Adele and Daniel became founding members along with Te Whare Ra, Montana (now Brancott), Penfolds and were later joined by Cloudy Bay and Corbans. This committee developed the Marlborough Wine & Food Festival which was first sponsored by Air New Zealand.

• 1985 - On the 5th November 1985, 5 years after their arrival in Marlborough, Daniel and Adele finally celebrated the first release of Daniel Le Brun NV. They were in the company of 200 guests, the French Ambassador Mr Jacques Bourgoin and New Zealand’s House of Representatives and renowned wine buff, Jonathon Hunt. Jonathan opened their first

  bottle of wine in the time-honoured tradition of sabrage.

  Daniel was co-opted to serve on the newly created New Zealand-France Friendship Fund. This was a gesture from the French Government to improve relations with New Zealand, creating scholarships and funding opportunities in France for young New Zealander’s. He served on this board from 1986 to 2000.

• 1989 - Son Remy is born during the Marlborough Wine & Food Festival, the first time since its inception that Adele had missed the occasion.

• 1995 - Over the years Daniel has achieved many national and international awards for his wines. At the Liquorland Royal Easter Show he was awarded the Trophy for Champion Wine of Show – the first time this has been awarded to a Méthode Traditionelle.

• 1996 - Adele & Daniel leave their first venture Cellier Le Brun. The Daniel Le Brun brand is now owned by Lion Nathan.

• 1997—1999 - Daniel consulted in Chile and South Africa.

• 1997 - Adele & Daniel’s new venture No.1 Family Estate is born. As they could no longer use  their name as a brand, they chose No.1 Family Estate in recognition of the many ‘firsts’  in New Zealand wine they had achieved over the years. (*refer appendix No.1 List).  In this year  Daniel was also awarded the Chevalier Order of Merit by the French Government for his diplomacy work in helping to restore French - New Zealand relations after the bombing of the  Rainbow Warrior. 

• 1998 - Daniel set about creating a contract processing business so that wineries who were interested in producing a Methode Traditonelle did not have to find the capital expenditure for the necessary riddling, disgorging and labelling process. Most our first clients are  still processing their methode with us today. 

• 1999 - The very first Cuvée No.1 was released on Bastille Day 1999. To celebrate the new venture and family business Adele and Daniel allowed each of their children to take center stage for the release events. 20-year-old Virginie lead the release in Auckland. As unpredictable as the weather in Auckland can be, a blanket of fog prevented them from making the next day’s planned Wellington release. The event went ahead with 10-year-old Remy representing the family and supported by his Aunty Lynne and close friends (and surrogate grandparents) Bruce and Beverley Cook. 

• 2006 - Daniel was awarded the Chevalier order of Agricole by the French Government for services to viticulture through consistent excellence. 

• 2012 - Adele, along with founding partners Nautilus and Cloudy Bay, set up Méthode Marlborough. The aim of the group was to provide New Zealand consumers an assurance of quality. Members must conform to the traditional method of secondary fermentation in the bottle, followed by riddling and ageing for a minimum of 18 months on lees before disgorging. Méthode Marlborough wines must be made exclusively using 100% Marlborough grown grapes either as a blend or alone. 

“Importantly, Méthode Marlborough members use the traditional grape varietals of Champagne and adhere strictly to the traditional method. As a group Méthode Marlborough distinguishes between sparkling wines from our region compared to those using by the Charmat method or by adding carbon dioxide to create the bubble.” - Adele Le Brun 

• 2019 - No.1 Family Estate celebrated 20 years since the first release of Cuvée No.1. 

Few would have predicted Marlborough’s rapid ascent to become one of New Zealand’s preeminent – and internationally renowned – wine-growing regions. From August 2023 the region’s winemakers and growers are celebrating 50 years of Marlborough’s official beginning as a wine region, and inviting the country to re-discover the depth of Marlborough wine.

Discover the history of our region’s wine brands and explore stories about our people and place that make it special here. https://www.marlboroughwinenz.com/2023

#marlboroughwinenz #marlboroughnz #celebrating50years