"I wasn't trying to be the first woman. I was trying to make wines I would want to drink." Susana Balbo became Argentina's first female enologist in 1981, at a time when the country's wine industry was almost entirely male. Forty-three years later, her winery in Agrelo is one of the most respected in Mendoza — and her early experiments with Torrontés changed how the world thinks about Argentine white wine.
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For travelers who care about the people behind Argentine wine — not just the bottles — Susana Balbo Wines offers one of the most personal and direct visiting experiences in Mendoza. This guide covers her story, the wines worth knowing, and what to expect when you go.
The pioneer
Susana Balbo graduated in 1981 from the Universidad Don Bosco in San Juan, becoming the first woman in Argentina with a degree in enology. Her early career took her to Cafayate in Salta, where she worked with Torrontés — an aromatic white grape grown almost exclusively in northern Argentina that, at that time, was considered second-tier and was rarely exported.
What Balbo did with Torrontés — reducing yields, picking earlier, fermenting cold to preserve aromatic complexity — effectively created the modern style of Argentine white wine. Within a decade her work had positioned Torrontés as a recognizable export category. The technique she pioneered is now standard across the industry.
In 1999 she founded her own winery in Agrelo, Luján de Cuyo. Today the operation is family-run, with her daughter Ana Lovaglio as CEO and her son José Lovaglio as head winemaker.
The wines: three tiers, three philosophies
The Susana Balbo portfolio is structured around three labels, each with a distinct character:
- Crios — "Offspring" — the entry-level line, focused on freshness and varietal expression. Includes one of the most widely available premium Torrontés in the world.
- Susana Balbo signature line — the personal expression of the founder. Includes a Brioso (a blend that has become iconic) and a Susana Balbo Signature Malbec.
- BenMarco — named for Susana's husband. A more terroir-focused line built around single-vineyard parcels. The BenMarco Expresivo is particularly highly regarded.
Tasting all three tiers in a single visit is an efficient lesson in how an Argentine winery can build a clear stylistic identity at different price points without losing coherence.
The visit: scale, intimacy and personality
One of the things that distinguishes Susana Balbo Wines is that the family is genuinely present. Susana herself, well into her sixties, is often at the winery during the week. José Lovaglio is frequently on the floor explaining vintages. This is not a marketing claim — it's the actual texture of the operation.
The architecture is contemporary but understated. The visit moves through the production hall, barrel room and a tasting space designed around the surrounding vineyards. Compared to the monumental architecture of Catena Zapata or the contemporary statement of Zuccardi, Susana Balbo is more domestic in scale — deliberately so.
For more on the broader Luján de Cuyo region, see our private Luján de Cuyo wine tour.
The restaurant: Osadia de Crear
The estate's restaurant, Osadia de Crear, has become one of the most consistent fine-dining destinations in Mendoza. Chef Flavia Amad's kitchen builds menus around local seasonal ingredients and the wines are paired with directness rather than theatricality. The lunch experience here is one of the more reliably excellent winery lunches in Luján de Cuyo.
Reservations for lunch need to be made at the same time as the tasting and should be booked together. The combined visit-and-lunch experience is the version most travelers end up wanting.
Practical visiting information
Where it is
Susana Balbo Wines is in Agrelo, Luján de Cuyo — about 45 minutes from Mendoza city. The area is dense with iconic wineries (Catena Zapata is nearby, as are several smaller boutique estates), which makes Agrelo one of the easier areas to design a balanced winery day.
Booking
The standard tasting has reasonable availability with two to three weeks of lead time. The lunch at Osadia de Crear is more constrained — four to six weeks ahead in high season is the safe window. During Vendimia (February–March) plan further out.
What to choose
- Classical tasting: 75 minutes through the three tiers, with vineyard context
- Premium tasting: includes the limited series and barrel samples
- Tasting + lunch: the most complete option, roughly four hours total
Why Susana Balbo matters
Beyond the wines themselves, the Susana Balbo project carries cultural weight in Argentine wine. The fact that a woman in 1981 could not only graduate as an enologist but go on to redefine an entire national category of wine — in an industry historically resistant to that — matters. The estate is staffed substantially by women in senior winemaking roles, and the project has become a reference for what an Argentine family wine business led by women looks like at its best.
If you're interested in the broader story of how Argentine wine got serious internationally, our history of high-end wines in Mendoza includes Balbo's role in that arc.
Frequently asked questions
Will I actually meet Susana?
Sometimes — she's often at the winery during the week but not on a fixed schedule. Don't book the visit expecting a guaranteed meeting. The visit is excellent without it; meeting her is a bonus that happens more than people expect but cannot be promised.
Are the Torrontés wines available internationally?
The Crios Torrontés is widely exported. The higher-tier Torrontés wines from the Signature line are more limited in distribution. Tasting them at the winery, in context, is the most useful introduction.
How does this compare to Catena Zapata?
Different in scale and tone. Catena is monumental and architectural; Susana Balbo is intimate and family-run. Both are excellent. If your day has room for two visits in Agrelo, combining them gives you a clear contrast in how iconic Argentine wineries can be built.
What's the dress code?
Comfortable elegant casual. The restaurant skews slightly more formal than the tasting room, but neither requires anything close to a jacket.
A visit to Susana Balbo Wines is the kind of experience that grounds an entire Mendoza wine trip. If you'd like us to organize a private Agrelo day combining Susana Balbo with a complementary winery and lunch reservations, get in touch via WhatsApp and we'll handle the logistics.
More questions? Check our FAQ with 25 common questions about tours, prices, logistics, and Alta Montaña.
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