2025 Susana Balbo - Torrontes Cafayate Crios (750ml)

Susana Balbo became Argentina's first female enologist and has spent more than four decades earning her nickname, the "Queen of Torrontés." Her relationship with the grape began in 1981, when she took a job in Cafayate, Salta, at a winery where Torrontés made up three-quarters of production, giving her ample raw material to experiment with. She went on to found her own winery, Dominio del Plata, in 1999 in Luján de Cuyo, Mendoza, and has spent years refining techniques, like curbing yields and choosing the right high-altitude sites, to soften the grape's natural bitterness and unlock a more elegant expression. Crios, meaning "offspring" in Spanish, is her more youthful, everyday label, named for her own two children and first released in 2002 as one of the wines that helped introduce Torrontés to markets abroad.

This Torrontés is a blend of fruit from two high-altitude regions, the Cafayate Valley in Salta and Paraje Altamira in the Uco Valley of Mendoza, both marked by wide swings between warm days and cool nights that help preserve aromatics and acidity. Each portion is fermented separately, in stainless steel with selected yeasts at low temperature, then transported and assembled at the winery in Mendoza before resting on the lees for about three months to build texture.

The wine shows a pale yellow color with greenish highlights, offering citrus, passion fruit, lychee, and white flowers. The palate is crisp, with lively acidity, subtle creaminess, and a long mineral finish. It pairs beautifully with sushi, ceviche, or spicy Thai cuisine.