No 1 Family Estate Blanc de Blancs

No.1 Family Estate is a boutique winery in Marlborough, exclusively dedicated to producing traditional-method sparkling wines. It was founded in 1997 by Daniel and Adele Le Brun, with a vision to craft world-class ‘Méthode Traditionelle’ wines that could rival the finest Champagnes.

Daniel Le Brun, originally from Champagne, France, comes from a long lineage of winemakers dating back to 1684. Bringing his heritage and expertise to New Zealand, he saw Marlborough’s cool climate and free-draining soils as the ideal environment for Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier, the classic Champagne grape varieties.
No.1 Family Estate quickly gained recognition, producing elegant, complex, and age-worthy sparkling wines. Signature wines like No.1 Cuvée, No.1 Rosé, and No.1 Assemblé showcase the winery’s commitment to quality, craftsmanship, and family tradition, making it a benchmark for New Zealand sparkling wine.

The Chardonnay came from the estate's vineyard in the Wairau Valley, hand-harvested in March and whole-bunch pressed using a French Champagne Vaslin press. The extracted juice settled for 15 hours before fermentation occurred at a controlled temperature of 17°C using yeast strains imported from the Institut Œnologique de Champagne in Épernay, France. Post-fermentation, 80% of the vintage was combined with 20% of the previous vintage to achieve consistency. The blended wine was bottled with the addition of ‘liqueur de tirage’ to initiate the second fermentation. It then rested on its lees for 18 months, and riddled using gyro pallets, before disgorging, dosage, final corking and bottling.