I first became closely acquainted with Vino Superiore and the seemingly inseparable father-and-son “couple” behind the name and products at the 2014 annual WineMaker Magazine conference in Virginia. Like any well-mannered Italian bon vivants, Giuseppe senior and Joseph (Joe) Cuciniello were keen to introduce their products to me as I approached their booth zeroing in with great focus on bottles of red wine labeled Super Tuscan and Chianti.

I’ve been often disappointed by homemade wine masquerading as Super Tuscan or super anything that’s Italian. The fact is: if ain’t a Ferrari, it’s not a Ferrari, no matter how much you enjoy the drive. So here I am at the Vino Superiore booth wondering if this will be another disappointment, like so many before that give home winemaking a bad rap. I politely ask to taste a sample of the Super Tuscan as Joe launches into a poetic description of the wine and his products while Dad sits by the side enjoying the presence of an Italian and Italian-speaking wine aficionado.

The wine is made from 47% Cabernet Sauvignon, 43% Merlot and 10% Sangiovese. As Joe pours generously into a semi-opaque plastic cup, the deep rich red color is impressive–surely a setup for high expectations. I stare at the color appreciating the winemaking art that went into extracting all those pesky anthocyanins. I’m thinking thermovinification, but no, it can’t be … this is home winemaking. I proceed to smell still looking at the glass with the suspicion of a snooty buyer at an auction. The wine exudes aromas of fruit, ripe wild berries, with a gentle touch of oak in the background that doesn’t detract the senses from the seductive bouquet. I close my eyes as I take a sip, swoosh it around my mouth all over my palate. The wine is young and charming, the tannins are mouth-filling and screaming for a grilled sirloin, but, alas, it’s early afternoon and it won’t be until the evening until we get to try the wine again with beef. Impeccable balance! I’m definitely impressed.

So I ask to taste the Chianti made from 86% Sangiovese, 9% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. Again I’m impressed. The higher Sangiovese content could not hide this wine’s true identity and provenance. The grapes are sourced throughout top-notch Italian vineyards, such as in Toscana and Piemonte. The vineyards are organically cultivated and the grapes are processed on site by experienced winemakers and enologists, and then packaged and shipped frozen. I’m again impressed as my last experience with frozen must (crushed grapes and juice) dating back some 12 years or more was not what I would call stellar.

As it turned out, both wines won a medal, which were presented at the WineMaker Magazine conference award banquet. There was plenty left to celebrate with Joe and Giuseppe.

And so I decided to give frozen grape must another try and placed an order for two buckets, a 2011 and a 2013 Sangiovese both sourced from a vineyard named Pineta in Tuscany. I chose these two vintages to compare the quality of a recent vintage to that of an older vintage that’s been kept frozen for a while longer to assess if/how quality is impacted by the extended freeze period.

Each bucket comes in 5 US gallons (18.9 liters) and shouldyield approximately 3.5 gal (13.3 liters) of wine. The label may indicate some useful information regarding provenance and vineyard, Brix, pH and total acidity, but I’ll be testing all that once the musts thaw.

The buckets were shipped via FedEx in insulated boxes and  Gel Packs, and delivered right to my door.

It’s now time to plan activities, such as cleaning, sanitizing, preparing yeast, enzymes, etc. while the must thaws; it might be another day or so before I can pitch the yeast.

Stay tuned for a day-by-day update of action towards making outstanding — fingers crossed — Chianti.

And if you want to learn more about Vino Superiore, you can watch their technical videos on YouTube.

For more information on these two vintages, check out Vino Superiore’s 2011 Enologist Notes and 2013 Enologist Notes.