robert_parker 2020
Rating: 90 –90
The varietal and expressive 2020 Críos Torrontés is very grapey and fruit-driven and has aromas of Moscatel pulp and some citrus notes. The palate is light, austere. 300,000 bottles produced.
Susana Balbo, Crios Torrontes 2024
Argentina · Mendoza · Uco Valley · White · Still · wine-wine
Market
Lowest offer: 92.50 HKD (Buy)
Offers: 1 · Bids: 0
Offers
| Price / case | Vintage | Packing | Qty | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1110.00 HKD | 2024 | 12 x 75cl | 8 | hk / Hong Kong |
Bids
No active bids.
Vintages & packings
| Vintage | Packing | Offers | Bids | Market price | WA rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 1 x 75cl | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2023 | 12 x 75cl | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2024 | 12 x 75cl | 1 | 0 |
Critic ratings
robert_parker 2022
Rating: 91 –91
The varietal 2022 Crios Torrontés was produced with a 50/50 blend of juice from Cafayate in Salta and Paraje Altamira in Valle de Uco, fermented in their respective regions and then assembled in her winery in Mendoza. It has typicity, notes of orange blossom and other white flowers, but also a citrus side; it's crisp and aromatic with 13% alcohol and very good freshness and acidity that makes it easy to drink and refreshing, with a mellow mouthfeel. 325,000 bottles produced and bottled throughout the year from a single master blend.
robert_parker 2014
Rating: 93 –93
The 2014 Susana Balbo Signature Torrontés Barrel Fermented comes from the Altamira zone in the Uco Valley (but outside the boundaries of the newly-defined Altamira IP, indication de procedencia), from a vineyard Susana Balbo planted in 2005 with vegetal material form Cafayate in Salta. The whole clusters are pressed after a short maceration in the press and the must is clarified to obtain a very clear juice that ferments in used oak barrels where the wine was kept in contact with the fine lees with some bâttonage. The oak is perfectly integrated, in fact the nose is very fruit and flower-driven, even a little piquant, with faint spices and lots of freshness. The palate is very intense, with penetrating flavors, great freshness and minerality, ending almost salty. The oak is really imperceptible. The first vintage of this wine was only 2012, and in its third year it is already a benchmark Torrontés. If you want to oak a Torrontés, this is the way to do it. The next step is to investigate the evolution in bottle, as I have the feeling Torrontés can develop in bottle for longer than most people think, especially if you go for a spicy, fresh and not so phenolic style. 12,000 bottles produced.
robert_parker 2014
Rating: 90 –90
The 2014 Crios Torrontés comes from Cafayate in Salta and Altamira in Uco Valley, Mendoza, approximately 50/50. She planted in Altamira with vegetal material from Salta. The wine from Cafayate is fermented there and the wine transferred to Mendoza at the end of the fermentation in a cold truck with the fermenting wine protected by dry ice. The style Susana searches for is one with freshness, tension and acidity, representing the variety without overwhelming the senses, so the wine is easier to pair with food. There is a citric note that is provided by the Mendoza part that is less warm than Salta and from a chalky terroir that is harvested earlier. The wine is cold fermented, with a very clean must to avoid bitterness and also looking for bunches in the shadow, in Salta through the parral pruning and in Mendoza both parral and trellises. The nose is subtle, closer to a spicy Gewürztraminer than a Moscatel, with more flowers and elegance and absent the terpene aromas that come with very ripe Torrontés or if you use the gross lees. Only the fine lees are used here. All these details really make a difference. We talked about the possible food pairings of this aromatic white. Curiously enough the main customer in the US is a restaurant chain with some Japanese (sushi) and fusion cuisine. This is also ideal for Thai food with it's white pepper aromas, the vibrant acidity, and pungent flavors. Textbook Torrontés at unbeatable prices; the label says it all, dry, crisp and aromatic. They are one of the main producers and exporters of Torrontés, the production for this wine is around 420,000 bottles.
robert_parker 2014
Rating: 90 –90
The 2014 Crios Red Blend is produced with 60% Malbec, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Petit Verdot and some 10% Tannat, a formula that changes according to the vintage. This was produced as a limited edition at first, but it's now a permanent part of the portfolio produced every year. As with all the red Crios, most of the grapes are sourced from the Uco Valley with some 25% from Agrelo. There is ripe black fruit, spices and a hint of smoke, very clean, with no traces of oak. The palate is soft and elegant, a wine of impeccable balance and high drinkability. They want to offer a blend in a price range where you don't find many blends with this quality and complexity. They define it as layered, juicy and smooth and that's what you find in the bottle. It is a very tasty, quite intense and long red. This is a bargain for the quality it delivers. 120,000 bottles produced.
robert_parker 2014
Rating: 89 –89
The 2014 Críos Cabernet Sauvignon is elegant, earthy and balanced. A with all the Crios range it now has a small description of the style on the label that is a help for the consumer to know what they are going to find in the bottle. Today 75% of the grapes used in the winery are from Uco and 25% from the Agrelo zone in Luján de Cuyo. The red Crios range is mainly grapes from Tupungato with one-fourth grapes from Agrelo. It fermented in stainless steel with some inner staves and then matured in third-use barrels as they aim for fruit-driven wines without aromas of wood. There are plenty of plums, dark spices, balsamic aromas and notes of aromatic herbs and a ripe Cabernet character. Fresh, with good acidity with more tension and nerve in the palate with less alcohol and more balance. The tannins are very polished with a velvety texture. 96,000 bottles produced.
robert_parker 2014
Rating: 89 –89
The 2014 Crios Malbec is now sourced exclusively from different zones in the Uco Valley and in the future the label will mention it. They define this wine as lush with hints of spices. It has a floral-driven nose, with, yes, hints of spices, but no traces of oak, only a lactic twist, perhaps from the malolactic fermentation; part of the blend is never in contact with oak and is produced exclusively in stainless steel. Juicy, with those telltale Malbec round tannins, this can be drunk so easily it can be dangerous! The back labels of the Crios range give some hints of what food to pair with the wine, and here they mention tuna steak, lamb and hamburgers... umm! A champion in its price range. 480,000 bottles produced.
robert_parker 2016
Rating: 90 –90
The 2016 Críos Torrontés is a 50/50 blend of juice from Cafayate in Salta and Altamira in Valle de Uco fermented in their respective regions and then assembled in her winery in Mendoza. It's the prototype of fresh Torrontés with tension and good acidity, without overwhelming aromas, designed for the dinner table. 2016 was an interesting harvest in Cafayate, as the frost reduced yields by 50%, and in Altamira they also got lower than normal yields. The wine has great freshness and a subtle nose. Crisp and aromatic without overwhelming your senses and with good weight of fruit. This time lower yields have resulted in higher quality. 324,000 bottles produced.
robert_parker 2017
Rating: 90 –90
The 2017 Críos Torrontés is grapey, spicy and floral, which is a combination of Cafayate with Mendoza. It has notions of talcum powder and some citrus and mineral notes with less tropical notes. The style is fresh with good acidity. Sixty percent of the grapes are now from Altamira, a profile that has been growing and might grow even more in the future. Nice balance in the palate. 324,000 bottles produced.
robert_parker 2019
Rating: 90 –90
The just-bottled 2019 Críos Torrontés felt a bit reductive and with the influence of the sulfur in the bottling. But underneath, there are notes of white peach and some citrus, and of course, the orange blossom and Moscatel pulp sensations. It has a combination of the Salta wilderness and the cooler side from the Valle de Uco, as it's a blend from both places. 324,000 bottles produced.