Grapes from two premium East Coast winegrowing regions have been blended to create the Monkey Bay Chardonnay. Gisborne, lying on the East Coast of the North Island, is fondly known as the ‘Chardonnay Capital of New Zealand’. Hawkes Bay, situated to the south of Gisborne, is New Zealand’s most diverse winegrowing region. The combination of different sites, clonal selections and viticultural techniques provide variety and complexity in the aroma and flavor spectrum of the Monkey Bay Chardonnay.
About Monkey BayLegend has it that in the late 19th century, an Englishman visiting the Marlborough coast of New Zealand’s South Island reported seeing a monkey cavorting near a small bay within the larger (and now renowned) Cloudy Bay. Locals were skeptical because monkeys are not indigenous to New Zealand. The Brit, however, was adamant, so competing theories arose to explain the simian sighting.
Might the little imp have escaped from an American whaling ship that docked in Marlborough after stops in Africa or Indonesia? Or did the Englishman, addled by too much sun, or too much drink, mistake the native kiwi bird for a chimp? Whatever the real story may be, the idyllic spot became known as "Monkey Bay"—and so it is called to this day.
More than a century later, a few clever Kiwis put two-and-two together and from lush sauvignon blanc vineyards that had been planted nearby, they created a wonderfully fresh, world-class white wine called…Monkey Bay.
