"(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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"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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"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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"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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"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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"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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"The quality/price champion 2018 La Montesa is now 100% Garnacha from organically farmed vineyards from the 100-hectare family property that gives the wine its name. It fermented with indigenous yeasts in stainless steel vats and matured in barriques, 85% of them produced with French oak and the rest with American oak. It feels very young, and the oak is still present; and the American oak, which is spicy and smoky, with ashy incense and vanilla with some sweet undertones, gives it a character that brings back the character of the traditional wines from yesteryear in a very clean way. It has vibrant freshness and should develop nicely with a couple of years in bottle. It has great purity and typicity, less Mediterranean than the 2017, nicely textured, velvety. I think the breakthrough vintage for this wine was 2015. This has all the grapes that would have been used for the Propiedad label, which was not bottled separately in 2018. It carries the EU organic-farming label. It's quite impressive for the quantity they produce—700,000 bottles. They started bottling in April 2020 from a single master blend. I tasted one of the first bottles."

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