# Pipeño (2023)

- **Producer:** Ignacio Pino Román
- **Colour:** red
- **Type:** still
- **Grapes:** País, Cinsault, Moscatel de Alejandría
- **Region:** Itata Valley, Chile
- **Style:** Natural
- **Alcohol:** 11.5%
- **Average price:** €18
- **Contains sulphites:** Yes
- **When to drink:** Now or Later
- **Serving temperature:** 12–14 °C
- **Aromas & flavours:** raspberry, cherry, plum, violet, herbaceous, game, mushroom, forest floor

## About this wine

Pipeño is a historic, cultural tradition of the Chilean countryside, originally designating rustic, everyday wines made by local farmers in open wooden vats. Ignacio 'Nacho' Pino Román, a trained agronomist with extensive international harvest experience, brings a clean, technically precise, yet radically natural and low-intervention approach to this heritage style. Sourced from the coastal Ñuble range in the Itata Valley, this wine represents a dedication to preserving ancient vineyards and traditional Chilean viticulture.

## Interesting facts

- Sourced from the 'Los Pellines' vineyard featuring dry-farmed, own-rooted bush vines over 80 years old.
- Bottled in the traditional Chilean 1-Liter rustic format, historically used for everyday country wines.
- A unique red-white co-ferment blending red País and Cinsault with the highly aromatic white Moscatel de Alejandría.

## Food pairing

This light-bodied, high-acid red wine with low tannins acts similarly to a heavy rosé or a light Gamay. It pairs beautifully with rustic, savory dishes, grilled white meats, and slightly spicy street food. The vibrant acidity cuts through fat, while the low tannins won't clash with spices or lighter proteins.

## Wine making process

The grapes are harvested manually from 80-year-old, dry-farmed, own-rooted bush vines. In the cellar, the grapes are destemmed, and each variety is placed in separate open-top vats for spontaneous fermentation with native yeasts and no temperature control. Maceration lasts approximately two weeks. Following fermentation, the components are blended and aged for 10 months in stainless steel tanks. The wine is bottled unfined and unfiltered with minimal sulfur added only at bottling, packaged in the traditional rustic 1-Liter bottle format.