The sun may have started to go to bed early, but that makes it feel all the more luscious to close the door behind you and pour a glass of one of New Zealand's beautiful reds.

While we have very distinct wine regions in Aotearoa, which make for some stunning wines, this Saturday 17th April is World Malbec Day, created in 2011 to celebrate Argentinian malbecs, as it's their main grape. If you haven't tried malbec before, it's definitely one to try for lovers of rich, fruity round flavours. 

Trapiche Malbec is a rich, red-colored Argentinian wine with violet hues, redolent of plums and cherries that's round in the mouth with a touch of truffle and vanilla. A rich red colour with violet hues, there's a touch of truffle and vanilla in the mouth that's delightful with a good cheese platter and fig or quince paste.

That being said, we also have some pretty nifty malbecs in New Zealand. Full-bodied and quite tannic, it's a slightly rustic version of Merlot, with dark fruits, a juicy palate and plenty of flavour. Elephant Hill do a mighty merlot malbec that's ripe with dark fruity flavours, and Trinity Hill's Gimblett Gravels The Gimblett 750mls blended with cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cabernet franc, malbec and petit verdot, to create a rich black fruit aroma wine that's fine-grained and redolently round.