Susana Balbo Signature
Susana’s Signature wines capture her ultimate expression as a winemaker - creating bold wines with artistic finesse that you never get tired of drinking. The wide range of styles in Susana’s Signature wines highlight the breadth of winemaking expertise Susana brings to the winery. Susana’s winemaking approach is to seamlessly apply her human touch and enhance (not mask) the grape’s character, preserving all elements of terroir.
Susana Balbo graduated from Don Bosco University in Mendoza in 1981 and established herself as Argentina’s first female enologist and, since then, has been considered one of Argentina’s top winemakers. Three times her industry peers elected her to the Presidency of Wines of Argentina because of her work ethic, innovative winemaking techniques and dedication to the worldwide success of Argentine wine.
After working for twenty years as a consulting winemaker, Susana founded her own brand in 2000. In 2001, she broke ground for her winery in Agrelo in the Luján de Cuyo district of Mendoza. There, she makes her Susana Balbo “Signature” line of wines, as well as wines under the Crios, Nosotros and BenMarco labels. Her winemaking approach for the wines that bear her name is to seamlessly apply her human touch and enhance the grape’s innate character.
Over several decades of winemaking in Argentina, Susana has earned a reputation for a pioneering spirit and innovation. She is known for experimenting with various barrel sizes and aging regimens, fermentation of wine in egg-shaped concrete fermenters, and wild yeast fermentations. The Wine Advocate’s Luis Gutierrez dubbed her groundbreaking barrel fermented Torrontés one of the “10 Argentine Wines to Drink before You Die.”
A woman of strong convictions, in 2015 Susana decided to utilize all of her experience and knowledge as a businesswoman for the good of the community by running for the office of congresswoman. In the elections of October 2015, she became a National Congresswoman for the political party 'Cambiemos' (“Let's Change”), representing the province of Mendoza. Within Congress, she served as Vice President of the Small & Medium Business Commission, an important project implemented by Mauricio Macri's new government to create new jobs. As an entrepreneur and founder of a family winery, Susana's perspective proved a key asset.
In 2017, President Macri selected Susana as chair of the W20, or Women's 20, a working group of the G20 dedicated to women's empowerment. In 2018, Susana transitioned from her role in Congress to focus full time on her work with the W20. The group develops policies and initiatives promoting gender equality and economic empowerment, which will be presented at the G20 Summit in Buenos Aires in 2018. The work is focused on four key pillars of inclusion: financial, digital, workplace and rural women.
