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Susana Balbo And The Wines Of Argentina - American Airlines Pairing Series

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    Mon, July 29, 2019 (7:00 PM - 9:00 PM)

City Winery Chicago
1200 W Randolph
Chicago, IL 60607
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Cost: $85

City Winery Chicago and American Airlines invite you to our First Class International Pairing Series with Susana Balbo and the wines of Argentina. American Airlines is the Official Airline of City Winery and the Annual First Class International Pairing Series. American offers ample nonstop daily service to the featured destinations. Once per quarter, we present a dinner showcasing the wines and cuisine of a fascinating region served by American Airlines.

The evening will consist of  remarks by leading regional expert and US Brand Ambassador for Susana Balbo Wines, Kendra Forsythe, a four-course dinner, and flights of wine highlighting the traditional styles of the region. Over the course of seven dinners we will ‘visit’ an array of interational destinations.

City Winery hosts Susana Balbo wines, a beautiful portfolio featuring the wines of Argentina. Enjoy a four course menu crafted by Chef Mark Mendes to highlight the wines, the vineyards, and the soil of the South American landscape through the lens of Susana. Our American Airlines Sweepstakes Drawing will take place at the conclusion of our dinner series. This will include the possibility to win 2 roundtrip tickets to any international destination that American Airlines services. Everyone that attends a dinner will be entered into this sweepstakes, and will have the opportunity to win!

About Susana Balbo Wines:

In 1999, after working more than 20 years as a consultant winemaker for national and international wine companies, Susana decided to have her dream come true and started to build Susana Balbo Wines in the heart of Luján de Cuyo, Mendoza. After more than 10 years of steady growth in foreign markets, another one of her dreams was fulfilled: her children, José, winemaker graduated from UC Davis (California) and Ana, Bachelor of Business Administration from University San Andrés (Buenos Aires) decided to go on with the family tradition and join Susana Balbo Wines team.

During the last years, Susana and her team have been working tirelessly on meeting the international highest quality standards and have showed their commitment to some of the major issues of the 21st century: food safety, environmental sustainability and corporate social responsibility.

Five Must-Know Facts about Susana Balbo Wines:
 
1) PIONEERING SPIRIT
Susana became the first female enologist in Argentina after graduating with honors from Don Bosco University in Mendoza in 1981. Due to the male-dominated industry in Mendoza, her first job took her north to Salta where she changed Argentine wine history with her first vintage of premium Torrontés.
 
2) INNOVATIVE WINEMAKING
Susana continually seeks innovative ways to enhance her winemaking, from experimenting with barrel volumes (160L through 6,500L) to testing wild vs cultured yeasts. For premium wine production, Susana chooses concrete eggs for fermenting vessels. The egg's porous concrete breathes like oak yet allows the wine to develop as if it were made in stainless steel. The resulting wine has a pure expression of fruit with a richer, more complex mouthfeel.
 
3)LEADING THE INDUSTRY
Susana Balbo has been an influential leader in Argentine wine not only with her own projects at SBW, but also as elected President of Wines of Argentina (Argentina's international trade promotion organization).With WoA, Susana has been elected by her industry peers three times due to her work ethic, visionary leadership, and dedication to the success of Argentine wine worldwide.
 
4) FAMILY TIES
In 2011 and 2012, Susana's son Jose and daughter Ana joined the winery to help build SBW to where it is today. Jose helps Susana as the winery's head of R&D alongside his role as Exportation Manager. Ana is SBW's Marketing Manager as well as General Manager of the winery restaurant Osadía de Crear.
 
5) PUSHING THE LIMITS
Susana continuously seeks uncharted territory in the wine world to see what limits can be tested. Most recently, Susana crafted Argentina's first Barrel Fermented Torrontes. It's a wine that is not only the first of its kind, but harvested from a previously unproven terroir for Torrontés in the Uco Valley. The Wine Advocate's Luis Gutierrez calls it one of the "10 Argentine Wines to Drink Before You Die".
 
Susana Signature Series:
From mastering classic varietals to taking on her most revolutionary projects, Susana’s Signature label is where she pushes the boundaries of wine. 
WHY DO SUSANA BALBO SIGNATURE WINES STAND OUT?
 
1) Susana's Signature wines capture her ultimate expression as a winemaker - creating bold wines with artistic finesse that you never tire of drinking.
 
2) The wide range of styles in Susana’s Signature wines highlight the breadth of winemaking expertise Susana brings to the winery.
 
3) Susana's winemaking approach is to seamlessly apply her human touch and enhance (not mask) the grape's character, preserving all elements of terroir.
 
About Kendra Forsythe:
 
Kendra Forsythe is a native of New England, but after graduating Cum Laude from Gettysburg College with a degree in Globalization Studies, she moved to Mendoza, Argentina where her passion for wine was born. Kendra spent four years living in Mendoza, working with a luxury wine tourism company. This gave her an “insiders” look into the Argentine wine industry, as it was her job to know what all the wineries were up to and who was excelling in the most creative and innovating winemaking practices. Upon moving back to the United States, she spent two years working for a wine consulting firm that represented the trade organization “Wines of Argentina” before accepting the position as US Brand Ambassador for Susana Balbo Wines. 
 
Menu tbd. Please allow 72 hours notice for any dietary restrictions at chicagoconcierge@citywinery.com

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