«I wasn't trying to be the first woman. I was trying to make wines I'd want to drink.» Susana Balbo became Argentina's first female winemaker in 1981, at a time when the country's wine industry was almost entirely male. Forty-three years on, 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.

Planning your visit? Discover our private winery tours in Mendoza — or explore our luxury wine experiences in Mendoza.

For travellers 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 oenology. Her early career took her to Cafayate in Salta, where she worked with Torrontés — an aromatic white grape grown almost exclusively in northern Argentina which, at the time, was considered second-rate and rarely exported.

What Balbo did with Torrontés — lowering yields, picking earlier, fermenting cold to preserve aromatic complexity — effectively created the modern style of Argentine white wine. Within a decade her work had established Torrontés as a recognisable 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 it's a family operation, 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 — the entry range, focused on freshness and varietal expression. It includes one of the most widely available premium Torrontés in the world.
• The Susana Balbo signature range — the founder's personal expression. It includes Brioso (a blend that has become iconic) and the Susana Balbo Signature Malbec.
• BenMarco — named after Susana's husband. A more terroir-focused range built around single-vineyard parcels. BenMarco Expresivo is particularly well regarded.

Tasting all three tiers in a single visit is an efficient lesson in how an Argentine winery can build a clear stylistic identity across price points without losing coherence.

The visit: scale, intimacy and personality

One of the things that sets Susana Balbo Wines apart is that the family is genuinely present. Susana herself, now in her sixties, is frequently at the winery during the week. José Lovaglio is often on the floor explaining vintages. It isn't a marketing claim — it's the real texture of the operation.

The architecture is contemporary but understated. The visit moves through the production hall, the barrel room and a tasting space designed around the surrounding vineyards. Compared with Catena Zapata's monumental architecture or Zuccardi's contemporary statement, Susana Balbo is more domestic in scale — deliberately so.

For more on the wider Luján de Cuyo region, see our private Luján de Cuyo 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 seasonal local ingredients and the wines are paired with candour rather than theatre. The lunch experience here is one of the most reliably excellent winery lunches in Luján de Cuyo.

Lunch reservations should be made at the same time as the tasting, and it's best to book them together. The combined visit-and-lunch experience is the version most travellers end up wanting.

Practical visiting information

Where it is

Susana Balbo Wines is in Agrelo, Luján de Cuyo — about 45 minutes from the city of Mendoza. The area is dense with icon wineries (Catena Zapata is nearby, as are several smaller boutique estates), which makes Agrelo one of the easiest zones in which to design a balanced day of visits.

Reservations

The standard tasting has reasonable availability with two to three weeks' notice. Lunch at Osadia de Crear is tighter — four to six weeks ahead is the safe window in high season. During harvest (February to March), plan further ahead.

What to choose

• Classic tasting: 75 minutes through the three tiers, with vineyard context
• Private tasting: includes the limited series and barrel samples
• Tasting plus lunch: the most complete option, roughly four hours in 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 a winemaker but redefine an entire national wine category — in an industry historically resistant to that — matters. The estate is substantially staffed by women in senior winemaking roles, and the project has become a reference for what a women-led Argentine family wine business looks like at its best.

If you're interested in the wider story of how Argentine wine professionalised internationally, our history of fine wine in Mendoza covers Balbo's role in that arc.

FAQ

Will I actually meet Susana?

Sometimes — she's often at the winery during the week but on no fixed schedule. Don't book expecting a guaranteed encounter. The visit is excellent without it; meeting her is a bonus that happens more often than people expect but can't be promised.

Are the Torrontés available internationally?

Crios Torrontés is widely exported. The higher-tier Torrontés from the Signature range have more limited distribution. Tasting them at the winery, in context, is the best introduction.

How does it compare with Catena Zapata?

Different in scale and tone. Catena is monumental and architectural; Susana Balbo is intimate and familial. Both are excellent. If your day has room for two visits in Agrelo, combining them gives a clear contrast in how Argentine icon wineries can be built.

What's the dress code?

Comfortable smart casual. The restaurant tends to be 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 anchors a whole Mendoza trip. If you'd like us to organise a private day in Agrelo combining Susana Balbo with a complementary winery and lunch reservations, get in touch on WhatsApp and we'll handle the logistics.

Related tourPrivate Luján de Cuyo tourVisit Susana Balbo and have lunch at Osadia de Crear›

More questions? Take a look at our FAQ with 25 common questions about tours, pricing, logistics and the High Mountain excursion.