Pinhais

Spiced Sardines in Tomato

Price: $6.95
Tasting notes

The tomato sauce is made same-day and packed to order, so you get real acidity and freshness rather than a flat, cooked-down paste. The clove and black pepper land as background warmth rather than heat, letting the sardine itself stay front and center.

BodyFruitTanninAcidity
TomatoCloveBlack PepperSalt
  • Style: 125g tin; Atlantic sardines in spiced tomato sauce; clove, black pepper, chili; hand-packed in Matosinhos, Portugal
  • Grapes & Terroir: Atlantic sardines (72%); tomato sauce with cloves, black pepper, bay leaf; cucumber, chili, carrot, salt
  • Winemaking: 37-step fully manual canning process; tomato sauce made fresh on day of canning; no industrial machinery
  • Serving: Serve at room temperature; open and eat straight from the tin or plate over toast
  • Pairing: Toasted bread, cornichons, grainy mustard, pasta with capers, green salad
  • Similar To: For fans of Ortiz anchovies, Ramon Pena sardines, or any quality Iberian conserva

Conservas Pinhais has operated out of Matosinhos, a port town just north of Porto, since 1920. Their Spiced Sardines in Tomato contain sardines (72%), tomato sauce made from tomato pulp, olive oil, cloves, black pepper, and bay leaf, plus cucumber, chili, carrot, and salt. The tomato sauce is made fresh on the day it goes into the can, and the recipe is known to only a handful of workers, passed down verbally since the factory's founding.

Every step of production at Pinhais is done by hand, following a 37-step process from selecting fish at the local market through cleaning, cooking, packing, and hand-affixing the label. Pinhais is the only non-fully mechanized sardine cannery remaining in Portugal. The workforce is predominantly female, continuing a coastal tradition where women managed the catch while men fished.

Each tin is 125 grams and shelf-stable for at least 3 to 5 years unopened. The spice profile is subtle rather than aggressive: earthy warmth from cloves and black pepper, a mild heat from chili, and the brightness of fresh tomato, balanced by the fatty, firm flesh of Atlantic sardines packed in refined olive oil.

Serve straight from the tin on toasted bread with thinly sliced red onion and a drizzle of good olive oil. Works well alongside a simple green salad, cornichons, and grainy mustard. Also solid folded into pasta with capers and parsley.

Wine details

Dry/Sweet:, Dry
Wine Type:, Tinned Fish
Wine Style:,
Grapes:,
Farming:, Conventional
Vintage:,
Alcohol:,
Country:, Portugal
Region:, Matosinhos
Appellation:,
Bottle Size:, 125g
Sugar Level:, Zero Added Sugar

We will process and ship your order in 2-3 business days, you will receive a shipping confirmation email with tracking as soon as the Carrier scans the shipping label.

Ground shipping time depends on location, here's a breakdown:

West Coast: 1-2 business days
Midwest: 3-4 business days
East Coast: 5 business days

Process time is not shipping time. Shipping time starts from the days successive to the day of shipping, after the order has been processed.

See here our shipping policy.


Important Compliance Requirements

FedEx and other carriers we might occasionally use can only deliver wine to customers who are 21 years or older. Someone must be at the address to receive the package, carriers don't just drop a package and leave. They must ensure the person receiving the wine is 21 or older.


Re-shipping a Package

If a package is returned to us after three failed delivery attempts, we can only re-ship the wine upon payment of a re-shipping fee, to be determined based on the shipping address and number of bottles. Shipping wine is extremely expensive. We are sorry about this, but we have no other choice. Please make sure there's always someone at the address you enter as your shipping address.

If you'd like to receive a refund for a package that was returned to us after FedEx made three delivery attempts, we can do that but we must keep a $20 refund fee; FedEx charges us a lot of money for returns, unfortunately, I can't stress this enough.


Re-routing a Package

If you'd like to reroute a package after it's been shipped, we can do so for a $20 re-routing fee. We cannot re-route a package across state borders. For any change of address, please contact us as soon as possible, ideally within 1-2 days from placing the order or we cannot guarantee we'll be able to reroute or change your order's shipping address.


Canceling an Order

If you'd like to cancel an order after it's been shipped, we can do so upon payment of a small cancellation fee – the amount depends on the size of the order. Carriers charge us a lot of money to recall a package en-route.


Heat/Frost damage

We are not responsible for heat- or frost-related issues. We offer ice-packs upon request. Please let us know if you think that there could be heat-related issues. If we don't hear anything from you regarding weather issues before an order is shipped, or if you don't request a hold due to the weather, we are not responsible for heat/frost damage.


Placed an order. What next?

1. You will receive an order confirmation email with your order summary.*

2. As soon as your order ships from the warehouse, usually within 2-3 business days, this applies to all shipping rates, you will receive a shipping confirmation email with your tracking information. 2DAY shipping refers to shipping time; we still need 2-3 business days to prepare an order. We need to pick and pack, QA, add printed collateral, and palletize the orders.

3. Please track your package using the tracking service.

4. The carrier will attempt delivery a maximum of 3 times. After 3 delivery attempts, your package will be sent back to our warehouse.**

*Please ensure your email address is correct; otherwise, you will not receive the order and shipping confirmation emails.

**If delivery is attempted 3 times without success, or if you fail to retrieve your package from the carrier depot by the stated deadline, the shipping fee will not be refunded to the customer.

Returns Policy

If you are not satisfied with your purchase, please contact us at (424) 414-2040 or via e-mail at hello@primalwine.com between 9 am and 5 pm Pacific Standard Time, Monday through Sunday, we would like to understand and try to solve your concerns. We can offer refunds only as store credit.

Spiced Sardines in Tomato
$6.95

Producer profile

Pinhais

Conservas Pinhais & Cia was founded in 1920 in Matosinhos by two fishermen brothers drawn to the town by its abundance of Atlantic sardines. The company has operated continuously since then, surviving a dictatorship, an oil and petrol crisis, the 2010 financial crisis, and the COVID-19 pandemic, while most competitors either closed or moved production to mechanized facilities or West Africa.

The factory workforce is predominantly female, reflecting a historical coastal division of labor in which men fished and women processed the catch. Pinhais employs multi-generational workers from the same families, and the tomato sauce recipe used in their tomato-based products has been held by only a few staff members since 1920, passed down verbally. The factory now also operates as an interactive museum and live tour, open to visitors seven days a week at its location on Avenida Meneres in Matosinhos.

Every can goes through 37 individual steps performed entirely by hand, from purchasing fresh fish at the local market to cleaning, cooking, packing, and wrapping. No industrial machinery replaces manual labor in the core production process, making Pinhais the only non-fully mechanized sardine cannery remaining in Portugal. The company exports to over 44 countries and operates two brands: Pinhais and NURI.

Wine region

Matosinhos, Portugal

Matosinhos sits on the Atlantic coast of northern Portugal, directly adjacent to Porto. The town built its economy on the sardine fishing industry, with hundreds of boats working the cold, nutrient-rich waters of the Atlantic and dozens of canneries processing the catch through the early 20th century. At its peak, Matosinhos had roughly 50 sardine factories employing around 6,000 workers.

Today the canning industry in Matosinhos has contracted significantly, with only a handful of operations remaining. The sardines canned here are Atlantic pilchards caught in nearby waters. Portugal's canning tradition dates to the 1850s, when the first commercial canneries opened in Setubal and the Algarve; Matosinhos became a key hub as the industry expanded northward. Pinhais, founded in 1920, is among the last canneries in the country still processing entirely by hand.

Frequently asked question

We will process and ship your order in 2-3 business days, you will receive a shipping confirmation email with tracking as soon as the Carrier scans the shipping label.

Ground shipping time depends on location, here's a breakdown:

West Coast: 1-2 business days
Midwest: 3-4 business days
East Coast: 5 business days

Process time is not shipping time. Shipping time starts from the days successive to the day of shipping, after the order has been processed.

See here our shipping policy.

Signature on delivery is mandatory for wine deliveries. Please make sure someone is at the shipping address to sign for the package.

If applicable, please consider delivering the package to a business address to ensure someone is available to sign for the package.

We also have the option of delivering the package to a Carrier's store for pickup. Please reach out to us to coordinate.

Carrier will try to delivery a package up to three times before returning the package to us.

See here our shipping policy.

If you miss a delivery and a package gets returned to us we have two options:

1) Reship the package right away: due to the very high cost of shipping and returns, we must charge a re-shipping fee to be determined based on package size and shipping destination.

2) Consolidate the returned package with your next order: this option is free of charge and it's the most popular option.

See here our shipping policy.

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