Malcolm Jolley: Susana Balbo is on a roll

Ana Balbo runs the marketing and hospitality parts of the winery that bears her mother’s name, Susana Balbo. When not selling wine or running the winey’s two restaurants in Mendoza, Argentina, Ana Balbo takes flight and visits her export markets. She did this recently in Toronto, where she played host to a lunchtime tasting of seven of the Susana Balbo wines for the benefit of a handful of journalists and sommeliers at the Blue Bovine Steak + Sushi House.

Susana Balbo the winery is on something of a roll, celebrating its 25th year. Susana Balbo the person is easily Argentina’s best known female winemaker, and among its most celebrated and respected of whatever gender. She is particularly known for her work with the white Torrontés grape, brought to Argentina by its first Spanish colonial settlers. Unpopular until Balbo decided to invest in and plant it, she and her winery are credited to have largely saved it from obscurity.

Ana Balbo calls her family’s business “a winery founded by a winemaker.” Susana Balbo had planned to study nuclear physics, but in the volatile political climate of Argentina in the late 1970s and early 80s, her parents insisted she stay away from dangerous Buenos Aires. She studied oenology at home in Mendoza instead, making use the best she could of her love of sciences. Balbo became the first Argentine woman to earn a degree in oenology in 1981 and spent the next 18 years building an award-winning career before going out on her own in 1999.

Susana Balbo is also a winery founded by a mother. Crios is the entry-level label for the Susana Balbo portfolio, and it means “kids”. We started with a glass of the 2023 Crios Rosé of Malbec as an aperitif before sitting down. It was easy to drink and broke all stereotypes of Argentine Malbec: light and bright as could be, with a juicy acidity and subtle red fruit. It’s a warm weather, patio wine, closer to white than red. Once the cap comes off a bottle of it, I imagine it’s hard to put it back on.

While Torrontés is especially associated with Susana Balbo, the winery prides itself on what Ana Balbo calls “The White Wine Revolution” in Argentina. Argentine wine is best known for big, high-alcohol reds—at least in export markets like Canada, USA, and Europe. By the 1990s the political turmoil of the preceding decades had quelled in Argentina, leading the way for democratic reform.

With democracy and the rule of law came investment, and the wine trend of the time by big new world reds from California and Australia. Argentina, blessed with dark-skinned Malbec, quickly found its niche in that world. Balbo, more than 25 years ago, knew that to fully develop the Argentine wine industry, whites couldn’t be abandoned, especially made from the grape that’s almost indigenous to the country, Torrontés.

We sat down to a plate of sushi and maki with a glass of the Crios Torrontés 2023. Were I handed this wine blind, say at a party, I might mistake it for a stainless steel Sauvignon Blanc. There was passion fruit and lichee, as well as lime, but what singled it out was a terrific aromatic lift. Food-friendly acidity was the perfect foil for oily fish like salmon or tuna. So far so good, especially when I was reminded the Crios line of wines generally sell under $20 in Canada.

Things got more serious on the second course, a ravioli stuffed with ricotta and porcini mushrooms in a cream sauce. We took this rich dish with two vintages of the Susana Balbo Signature Barrel Fermented Torrontés: 2022 and 2016.

The aroma on the 2016 was striking with petrol notes over citrus, which led to slightly bitter grapefruit on the palate. The 2022, which is heading to Canada, was more floral on the nose, and then a mix of citrus notes. These wines showed more of an old-world sensibility; a bit of restraint. Both found harmony with the pasta, raising the creamy and earthy flavours up with acidity.

The next three wines were red and all about Malbec. First, back to the Crios label for the Sustenia Organic Malbec 2022. Ana Balbo reminded us that her mother was foremost a scientist, and a spirit of innovation at the winery means, as she put it, “We are focused on what’s happening next, not what happened before.” The sustainable Sustenia labels don’t just focus on organic growing but also feature lighter bottles and packaging.

The wine is lovely and light too, at least for a Malbec. I was surprised to find red fruit notes and a floral character in the wine. Ana Balbo reminded us that Mendoza is a high-altitude country, and for every 100 meters above sea level, the temperature at any given altitude will drop by one degree Celsius. The Balbo wines look for sites over 1,000 meters in elevation to seek out freshness. The cherry notes in the Sustenia went particularly well with the duck fat fries that came with a striploin steak that made up the third course.

Into the red meat came the sixth wines, the Susan Balbo Signature Malbec 2021. With 6 percent Petit Verdot, the fruit got black and brooding, lifted by a hint of violets, and a very light touch of coffee or chocolate on the finish. Everything was held to gather by gentle but firm tannins and more of that higher elevation freshness. It showed particularly well with red meat.

Nosotros means “us” and the Susan Balbo Nosotros Single Vineyard Nomade Malbec 2018, is meant to be a kind of ultimate reflection of that year. It’s called nomade, or nomad, because the vineyard that makes it is selected from a selection of the best every year, and changes according to the judgement of the winery.

Ana explained that Susana Balbo decides which vineyard selections will be candidates for a vintage’s Nosotros before she, her brother, and senior staff deliberate. The wine has a kind of cult status in Argentina and neighbouring Brazil, and the question of which vineyard will be chosen each year must fuel the enthusiasm for it.

The 2018 Nosostros Nomade came from a site at 1,300 metres above sea level in the prestigious Gualtallary region of the Uno Valley. It’s a deep, black, 100 percent Malbec, with rich focused fruit in perfect balance with lively acidity. It sits on the palate and dissipates into a long and resonant finish. It’s well made to finish a meal and linger over.