This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Health & Fitness

Susana Balbo La Guapa! Profile of an Argentine Winemaker

A profile of Susana Balbo, innovative woman winemaker in Argentina, and a few of her fine wines.

Torrontes is a delightful grape variety almost exclusively grown in Argentina and has been one of that country's best kept secrets until Susana exploited its potential.

About Susana Balbo:
In a country dominated by male winemakers, Susana Balbo stands out not only for her gender, but for her incredible skill and experience. She has been making wine since she earned her enology degree in 1981, and she has probably produced a wider variety of wines than any other winemaker in Argentina. Susana was the first Argentine winemaker to be hired as a consultant to make wine outside of Argentina. She has made wine in Australia, California, Chile, France, Italy, South Africa, and Spain, and she spends a month each year in a different wine region of the world studying with local winemakers and growers.

"Some of her labels feature figurines from a silver Huarpe Indian necklace that Susana owns. The figures represent women’s reproductive role as the connection between the past, present, and future. She considers her role as winemaker to be the connection between the vineyards (past), the winemaking (present), and the finished wines (future)." -from the importer

About her wines:
Susana Balbo helped create the modern style of Torrontes during her time working in the vineyards and wineries of Cafayate. Torrontes has become so popular it is now being extensively planted in Mendoza to meet demand. It produces a medium body wine that when vinified dry  has good crisp acidity and beautiful aromas ranging from white flower and honeysuckle to lemon and orange rind as well white peach in some instances. Think Viognier or Chenin Blanc. As a dessert wine it develops rich yet fresh ovetones of honey and apricot preserves.

Find out what's happening in Three Villagewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

We carry the "Crios" Torrontes  the Late Harvest Torrontes in a dessert style and her dry Rose of Malbec , a pink wine in a dry style.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?