Pipeño Pichihuedque 2020

Pichihuedque is a sub-zone of the Maule Valley where farmer Miguel Alvear tends dry-farmed, organically grown País bush vines estimated to be around 250 years old, rooted in deep clay soils over granite. The vines are on their original rootstock — Chile was never struck by phylloxera — and are worked without irrigation. Louis-Antoine Luyt sources this fruit (or in some years, finished wine made by the farmer) and names each Pipeño bottling after its specific sub-region.

Fermentation follows traditional Chilean method: bunches are hand-harvested, manually destemmed over a zaranda (a slatted wooden frame), and fermented spontaneously with indigenous yeasts in open-top wooden lagares. The wine is then aged briefly — around two months — in large wooden tanks called pipas, from which the name Pipeño is derived. A small dose of sulfur is added at bottling, along with a light filtration before the wine is sealed in one-liter bottles.

Pichihuedque sits in the middle of the Pipeño range in terms of structure: fuller-bodied and more tannic than Portezuelo, but lighter than Coronel del Maule or Carrizal. The profile runs toward dried cranberry and earthy red fruit, with a warm baking-spice finish. It is made in the everyday drinking style the farmers produce for themselves — low-intervention, low-ego, best served with a chill on it.

The Pipeño project is a négociant model in which Luyt highlights individual farmers and terroirs across the Maule. Starting with the 2018 vintage, day-to-day viticulture and winemaking are fully entrusted to the farmers, with the farmer's name featured prominently on the back label. Luyt returns to Chile for harvest, early vinification, and bottling.

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.