Minerva

Spiced Sardines with Pickles

Price: $6.95
Tasting notes

The spice blend is restrained and layered: piri-piri heat in the background, clove and bay in the oil, pickled carrot and cucumber adding acidity and crunch. It is one of the most versatile tins in the Minerva lineup and holds up well alongside a crisp white wine or Vinho Verde.

BodyFruitTanninAcidity
SaltBlack PepperCloveBrine
  • Style: Whole Atlantic sardines; spiced olive oil with piri-piri and pickles; hand-packed; 120g tin
  • Grapes & Terroir: Sardina pilchardus; Atlantic coast, Póvoa de Varzim, Portugal; MSC-certified sustainable fishing
  • Winemaking: Steam-cooked before canning; hand-packed using traditional Portuguese method; packed in piri-piri-spiced olive oil with carrot, cucumber pickles, cloves, bay, and peppercorns
  • Serving: Serve at room temperature or slightly chilled; open and eat directly from the tin or plate with bread
  • Pairing: Toast with butter, green salad, olives, cornichons, hard cheese, Vinho Verde, Albariño
  • Similar To: For fans of Nuri spiced sardines, Jose Gourmet, or Pinhais looking for mild heat and pickle brightness

Minerva Sardines in Spiced Olive Oil with Pickles are whole Atlantic sardines (Sardina pilchardus) caught off the Portuguese coast, hand-selected, steam-cooked, and packed by hand into 120g tins. The packing medium is olive oil infused with piri-piri chili, accompanied by pickled carrot and cucumber. Ingredients are sardines, olive oil, pickles (carrot and cucumber), piri-piri, salt, peppercorns, cloves, and bay leaves.

The Minerva brand is owned by A Poveira, a cannery founded in 1938 in Póvoa de Varzim on Portugal's northern Atlantic coast. The Minerva label itself dates to 1942. Fish is sourced from the Atlantic daily and processed at the Póvoa de Varzim facility, which holds MSC (Marine Stewardship Council) and HACCP certifications. Each sardine is steam-cooked before canning, following the traditional Portuguese preservation method.

The spice profile is warm rather than aggressively hot: piri-piri provides mild background heat, while clove, bay, and black pepper round out the oil. The pickled carrot and cucumber add crunch and brightness that cut through the richness of the fish. The result is a savory, lightly spiced tin that works equally well straight from the can or as a component in a composed dish.

Serve directly on thick-cut toast with good butter, or alongside a simple green salad and crusty bread. Works well as part of a tinned fish board with olives, cornichons, and hard cheese. Pairs with dry, high-acid whites: Vinho Verde, Albariño, or a lean Muscadet.

Wine details

Dry/Sweet:, Dry
Wine Type:,
Wine Style:,
Grapes:,
Farming:, Sustainable
Vintage:,
Alcohol:,
Country:, Portugal
Region:, Póvoa de Varzim, Norte
Appellation:,
Bottle Size:, 120g
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

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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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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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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 with Pickles
$6.95

Producer profile

Minerva

A Poveira was founded on June 16, 1938, taking over Póvoa de Varzim's first French cannery, which had been established in 1920. The Minerva brand was launched in 1942 and has been in continuous production since. Minerva and Cego do Maio are among several labels owned by A Poveira.

The cannery is MSC (Marine Stewardship Council) and HACCP certified. Sardines are hand-selected from the daily Atlantic catch, steam-cooked before canning, and hand-packed. The facility uses traditional preparation methods without industrial shortcuts: fish is not pre-frozen before processing.

The spiced sardines with pickles are produced with Sardina pilchardus packed in olive oil with piri-piri, pickled carrot and cucumber, peppercorns, cloves, and bay leaves. Tins have a five-year shelf life from production date and are stored at room temperature.

Wine region

Póvoa de Varzim, Norte, Portugal

Póvoa de Varzim is a coastal city in the Norte region of northwestern Portugal, on the Atlantic seaboard north of Porto. The area has been a commercial fishing port since at least the 18th century, when it supplied fish to inland Portuguese provinces. The cold, nutrient-rich Atlantic waters off this coast produce sardines during a defined seasonal campaign, typically running from late spring through early autumn.

A Poveira's cannery is located near the local fish market in Póvoa de Varzim, enabling same-day processing of the catch. The facility holds MSC certification, which requires independently audited compliance with sustainable fishing standards. Portugal's canned fish industry is concentrated along the Atlantic coast, with notable production centers in Póvoa de Varzim, Matosinhos, Aveiro, and Setúbal.

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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