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Gonzalo Gonzalo

Gran Cerdo Tempranillo 2021

Price: $24.95
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Tasting notes

Gran Cerdo skips the oak entirely — no American barrels, no vanilla, no wood tannin — letting Tempranillo show up as strawberry, raspberry, and violet with a mineral edge from the granite-laced calcareous clay soils of Fuenmayor. At 13.5% ABV with real acidity and soft tannins, it drinks more like a juiced-up Beaujolais than a conventional Rioja.

BodyFruitTanninAcidity
RaspberryCherryVioletEarth
  • Style: Unoaked, medium-bodied red; cherry-red with purple hue; strawberry, raspberry, violet, granite mineral; 13.5% ABV; vegan
  • Grapes & Terroir: 100% Tempranillo; biodynamic, organic (uncertified); calcareous clay soils; Fuenmayor, Rioja Alta; 4.5 hectares; 35-year-old vines
  • Winemaking: Whole-bunch fermentation; native yeasts; no oak; no filtration; no stabilization; minimal sulfur
  • Serving: Serve at 57-61F; 15-20 min light chill from room temp recommended
  • Pairing: Grilled lamb, Spanish chorizo, jamon, roasted vegetables, tomato-based pasta
  • Similar To: For fans of Beaujolais and fruit-forward natural reds who want a zero-oak Rioja

Gran Cerdo Tempranillo comes from Fuenmayor, a town in the Rioja Alta sub-zone of DOCa Rioja, positioned between groves of trees along the Ebro River and Mount San Llorente. The 100% Tempranillo vines were planted approximately 35 years ago across 4.5 hectares of calcareous clay soils. Gonzalo Gonzalo Grijalba follows biodynamic practices in both vineyard and winery, following the lunar calendar year-round.

Winemaking here is minimal intervention by design: whole-bunch fermentation, native yeasts, no filtration, no stabilization, and minimal added sulfur. There is no oak aging — the wine goes straight to bottle to preserve primary fruit character. The result is unoaked, which puts Gran Cerdo well outside the classic Rioja formula of extended American oak aging.

In the glass, Gran Cerdo is cherry-red with purplish highlights. Aromas of fresh strawberry, raspberry, and cherry are backed by a floral violet note and clean mineral tones from the granite-influenced soils. The palate is juicy and bright, with lively acidity, soft tannins, and a slight herbaceous finish with a touch of spice.

The name Gran Cerdo — Big Pig — is a direct nod to the bank executives who refused Gonzalo loans on the grounds that wine is not a seizable asset. The flying pig label tells that story with zero ambiguity. The wine is vegan, organic in practice (uncertified), and biodynamic.

The lively acidity and soft tannins make this a natural match for grilled lamb chops, Spanish cured meats like chorizo or jamon, and roasted vegetables. It also holds up well next to tomato-based dishes — pasta, shakshuka, or a slow-cooked ragu. Serve slightly cool, around 57-61F, to keep the fruit fresh.

Wine details

Dry/Sweet:, Dry
Wine Type:, Red Wine
Wine Style:, Medium Body
Grapes:, Tempranillo
Farming:, Organic and Biodynamic
Vintage:, 2021
Alcohol:, 13.5%
Country:, Spain
Region:, Rioja
Appellation:, DOCa Rioja
Bottle Size:, 750ml
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.


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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.


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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.


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Heat/Frost damage

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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.

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**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.

Producer profile

Gonzalo Gonzalo

Gonzalo Gonzalo Grijalba was born in Logrono, Spain and grew up among the vineyards his parents cultivated in Fuenmayor. After studying biology in Leon and oenology at the University of Rioja, he traveled through France and Italy, meeting small growers and learning low-intervention winemaking. He returned to launch his own project in 2003 under the name Orgullo, later producing the Gran Cerdo label.

His turn toward biodynamic farming was personal: his father's illness, caused by years of working with chemical herbicides and pesticides in the family vineyards, led Gonzalo to reject synthetic inputs entirely. He revived natural treatments and biodynamic practices to restore soil vitality and ecosystem health. The vineyards in Fuenmayor are now farmed following the lunar calendar, with no chemical treatments used in either the vineyard or the winery.

Gran Cerdo Tempranillo is made with whole-bunch fermentation using native yeasts, no filtration, no stabilization, and minimal added sulfur. The wine is unoaked, a deliberate departure from conventional Rioja production. The label's flying pig references the bank executives who denied Gonzalo loans when he proposed his project, on the grounds that wine is not a seizable asset. He ultimately bottled the wine with help from friends.

Wine region

Rioja, Spain

Rioja is located in north-central Spain along the Ebro River valley, protected to the north by the Sierra de Cantabria and to the south by the Demanda and Cameros mountain ranges. In 1991, it became Spain's first wine region to achieve DOCa (Denominacion de Origen Calificada) status. The region spans approximately 100 kilometers from west to east, with vineyards at elevations ranging from 300 to 900 meters, and is divided into three sub-zones: Rioja Alta, Rioja Alavesa, and Rioja Oriental (formerly Rioja Baja). The climate is temperate, shaped by the interaction of Atlantic and Mediterranean influences, with warm summers, cool winters, and an average annual temperature of 12-14 degrees Celsius.

Rioja Alta, the westernmost sub-zone, sits at higher elevations with a predominantly Atlantic climate. Its soils are a mix of clay-limestone and iron-rich clay, giving wines from this area higher acidity, moderate alcohol, and good aging potential. Tempranillo is the dominant grape, accounting for roughly 80% of red plantings across the DOCa. The town of Fuenmayor, where Gonzalo Gonzalo farms, sits within Rioja Alta near the Ebro River. Gran Cerdo is made outside the traditional Rioja aging classification system — no Crianza, Reserva, or Gran Reserva designation — making it a declassified, immediate-drinking expression of the sub-zone.

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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