Susana Balbo Signature Barrel Fermented Torrontés

Altamira, Uco Valley, Mendoza

Tasting Notes

A golden colored Torrontés with bright reflections. The nose is fragrant and complex, with hints of tropical fruits (especially lychee), citrus notes (such as lemon peel) and delicate floral aromas. The mouth is harmonious, with a balanced acidity that goes with some intense fruit flavors. It has a good, round body and a silky texture.

Fish, shellfish and spicy, aromatic dishes from Indian, Chinese and Thai cuisines all pair well with this wine.

Destemming, cooling down at 6°C (43°F) and maceration in the press with dry ice for 2 hours. Pressing at low pressure and fining. Fermentation in new French oak barrels and with selected yeasts.

Region: Paraje Altamira, Valle de Uco, Mendoza
Elevation: 1,150 m.a.s.l. / 3,770 ft. (average)

Varietal: 100% Torrontés
Alcohol 13%
Acidity: 6 g/L

Tasting Notes

Golden color with bright reflections. The nose is fragrant and complex, with hints of tropical fruits, especially lychee, and citrus notes, such as lemon peel, with delicate floral aromas. The mouth is harmonious with balanced acidity, combined with intense fruit flavors. This wine has good, round body, with a silky texture.

Fish, shellfish and spicy, aromatic dishes from Indian, Chinese and Thai cuisines all pair well with this wine.

Hand-harvested. Destemming, cooling down at 6°C (43°F), maceration in the press with dry ice for 2 hours. Pressing at low pressure, then fining. 100% of the fermentation with selected yeasts in new French oak barrels.
Aging: 100% in new French oak barrels for 6 months.

Region: Paraje Altamira, Valle de Uco, Mendoza
Elevation: 1,150 m.a.s.l. / 3,770 ft. (average)

Varietal: 100% Torrontés
Alcohol 11.5%
Acidity: 6.2 g/L

Tasting Notes

Enticing aromas that are strikingly similar to Viognier, with hints of white pear, white flowers and ripe peach. On the palate, it has a beautiful structure and acidity along with enticing fruit flavors that keep you coming back for another sip. Plenty of body for a wine that shows such delicate aromas and flavors. Fruity, floral and yet still quite dry.

Delicate flavors such as fish and shellfish. Spicy and aromatic Indian, Chinese and Thai cuisine also go very well with this variety

Hand picked, destemmed, Cooled at 6° C. Macerated with dry ice for 6 hours, low pressed. 100% Fermented in new French oak. Aged for 4 months in 100% new French oak barrels.

Grapes grown at Finca La Delfina in Altamira, Uco Valley, at an elevation of 1,150 m.

100% Torrontés. Alcohol 13.5%; acidity 6.8 g/L.

Tasting Notes

Enticing aromas that are strikingly similar to Viognier, with hints of white pear, white flowers and ripe peach. On the palate, it has a beautiful structure and acidity along with enticing fruit flavours that keep you coming back for another sip. Plenty of body for a wine that shows such delicate aromas and flavours. Fruity, floral and yet still quite dry.

Smoked meats, medium cheeses, fish, crab, sushi.

Hand picked, destemmed, Cooled at 6° C. Macerated with dry ice for 6 hours, low pressed. 100% Fermented in new French oak. Aged for 3 months in 100% new French oak barrels.

Grapes grown at Finca La Delfina in Altamira, Uco Valley, at an elevation of 1,150 m.

100% Torrontés. Alcohol 13.5%; acidity 6.6 g/L.

  • 2023-07-01

    94

    points

    Vinous, July 2023

    "The 2022 Torrontés Barrel Fermented is from Paraje Altamira in the Uco Valley. It spent up to six months in French oak barrels. Bright yellow in the glass. The nose offers muscat, rose, and basil notes accompanied by hazelnut and oak. The palate is austere and chalky, providing a grippy, salty mouthfeel before the long-lasting, flavorful finish. A delicious rarity in the small world of Torrontés."

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  • 2023-07-01

    91

    points

    Wine Enthusiast, July 2023

    "This is not your typical Torrontés. “Elegant” is the word that describes Susana Balbo's style. This barrel-fermented white follows this approach and shows a nose of subtle aromas of white flowers, peach and wet stones. It is a mineral-textured bottling, offering herbs and honey alongside citrus fruit. Excellent acidity lifts the palate and keeps it vivid into the lemony finish."

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  • 2023-02-26

    93

    points

    James Suckling, February 2023

    "Lots of perfumes here but nothing sassy. Rather refreshing aromatics with fresh lychee, peach, green grapes, melon and orange blossom. Medium to full body with just a hint of tannins that offset the lifted perfumes, giving it a little more seriousness and gravity. A wonderful torrontes from Paraje Altamira. Drink now. Screw cap."

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  • 2022-06-09

    93

    points

    Tim Atkin, June 2022

    "Always among the best and most ambitious Torrontés bottlings in Argentina, partly because of the quality of its Paraje Altamira terroir, this new French oak-fermented white is taut, stony and understated, with perfumed vanilla and nutmeg spices, stony reduction and notes of grapefruit and fresh limes. 2023-28"

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  • 2022-03-31

    93

    points

    James Suckling, March 2022

    "This has aromas of peaches, jasmine, salted lemons, white grapefruit and crushed stones. Medium-bodied with bright acidity and a vibrant, layered palate. Fresh and perfumed with pretty floral notes, yet mineral, too. No oak notes,though it was barrel-fermented. Layered and elegant with a long, delicious finish. Drink now. Screw cap."

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  • 2016-12-30

    94

    points

    Luis Gutiérrez, Wine Advocate, December 2016

    "The nose of the 2015 Susana Balbo Signature Torrontés Barrel Fermented is completely different from any other Torrontés I've ever encountered. It has notes of gunpowder and silex, tremendously mineral and austere. It comes from Altamira in Valle de Uco Valley where the soils are rich in limestone. It was sourced from a vineyard Susana Balbo planted in 2005 with vegetal material selected from Cafayate in Salta. The whole clusters were pressed and the must was put to ferment in second use oak barrels where the wine was kept in contact with the fine lees with some bâtonnage for four months. This is only 12.5% alcohol and has 7.6 grams of acidity (measured in tartaric acid), which are good parameters that indicate a light, sharp and fresh white. If the nose is surprising, the palate is simply unbelievable, sharp, austere, mineral and long, without any bitterness or exotic flavors. White flowers emerge with time in the glass. 15,000 bottles were filled in late September 2015."

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  • 2016-05-21

    93

    points

    James Suckling, James Suckling, May 2016

    "A white with plenty of oyster shell and dried fruit character plus hints of new oak. Full body, bright limey acidity. Fantastic barrel fermented white. Screw cap. Drink now."

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  • 2016-03-01

    92

    points

    Stephen Tanzer, Vinous, March 2016

    "(100% barrel-fermented in all-new French oak; spent three months on its lees): Pale, bright silver-yellow. Sexy reduction to the slightly funky aromas of ginger and lees. Quite Burgundian in the mouth, offering rich, sexy flavors of white peach, ginger, quinine and charred oak. Very juicy but also rich, tactile and suave; plusher than the White Blend. Very dry but Susana Balbo notes that her use of oak barrels toasted by convection supplies some polysaccharides, which give this wine a touch of sweetness. Finishes with a touch of phenolic firmness but also lovely lingering sweetness. Great sex appeal."

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  • 2022-01-01

    93

    points

    Luis Gutiérrez, Wine Advocate, January 2022

    "The 2014 Susana Balbo Signature Torrontés Barrel Fermented comes from the Altamira zone in the Uco Valley (but outside the boundaries of the newly-defined Altamira IP, indication de procedencia), from a vineyard Susana Balbo planted in 2005 with vegetal material from Cafayate in Salta. The whole clusters are pressed after a short maceration in the press and the must is clarified to obtain a very clear juice that ferments in used oak barrels where the wine was kept in contact with the fine lees with some bâttonage. The oak is perfectly integrated, in fact the nose is very fruit and flower-driven, even a little piquant, with faint spices and lots of freshness. The palate is very intense, with penetrating flavors, great freshness and minerality, ending almost salty. The oak is really imperceptible. The first vintage of this wine was only 2012, and in its third year it is already a benchmark Torrontés. If you want to oak a Torrontés, this is the way to do it. The next step is to investigate the evolution in bottle, as I have the feeling Torrontés can develop in bottle for longer than most people think, especially if you go for a spicy, fresh and not so phenolic style. 12,000 bottles produced."

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  • 20150623

    91

    points

    James Suckling, June 2015

    "A fresh and bright torrontés with yogurt, dried apples and pears. Full-bodied, round and savory. Intense finish. Barrel fermented and three months in barrels with lees. Drink now. Screw cap."

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  • 2015-02-26

    91

    points

    Stephen Tanzer, Vinous, February 2015

    "Bright silver-yellow. Lemon, lime, honey and vanilla on the nose, complicated by a musky leesy quality and a chalky nuance. Ripe and glyceral in the mouth, with harmonious acidity framing the complex flavors of peach, citrus fruits and lees. Only 25% of this pliant, layered Torrontés went through malolactic fermentation. Susana Balbo describes this as Torrontés Riojano (the best clone of this variety) in its purest expression, noting that the plantings came from Cafayate."

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TRADE & MEDIA ASSETS /////////////////

2022 Susana Balbo Signature Barrel Fermented Torrontés – 94 points, Vinous – Shelftalker

2022 Susana Balbo Signature Barrel Fermented Torrontés – 94 points, Vinous – Sell Sheet

2022 Susana Balbo Signature Barrel Fermented Torrontés – 91 points, Wine Enthusiast – Sell Sheet

2022 Susana Balbo Signature Barrel Fermented Torrontés – 91 points, Wine Enthusiast – Shelftalker

2022 Susana Balbo Signature Barrel Fermented Torrontés – 93 points, James Suckling – Shelftalker

2022 Susana Balbo Signature Barrel Fermented Torrontés – 93 points, James Suckling – Sell Sheet

2021 Susana Balbo Signature Barrel Fermented Torrontés – 93 points, James Suckling – Sell Sheet

2021 Susana Balbo Signature Barrel Fermented Torrontés – 93 points, James Suckling – Shelftalker

2021 Susana Balbo Signature Barrel Fermented Torrontés – 93 points, Tim Atkin – Shelftalker

2021 Susana Balbo Signature Barrel Fermented Torrontés – 93 points, Tim Atkin – Sell Sheet

2021 Susana Balbo Signature Barrel Fermented Torrontés – Tasting Notes

2022 Susana Balbo Signature Barrel Fermented Torrontés – Tasting Notes

Susana Balbo Signature Barrel Fermented Torrontés – Bottle – 2021 & After

2015 Susana Balbo Signature Barrel Fermented Torrontés – 93 points, Suckling – Shelftalker

2015 Susana Balbo Signature Barrel Fermented Torrontés – Tasting Notes

2018 Susana Balbo Signature Wine Advocate reviews 7-18 Sales Sheet

2014 Susana Balbo Signature Barrel Fermented Torrontés Sales Sheet

2014 Susana Balbo Signature Barrel Fermented Torrontés Shelftalker

2014 Susana Balbo Signature Barrel Fermented Torrontés Label

Susana Balbo Signature Barrel Fermented Torrontés – Non-Vintage – 2017 & Before

2014 Susana Balbo Signature Barrel Fermented Torrontés Tasting Notes