Tocai Rosso

Also known as Tai Rosso, Cannonau, Grenache, Garnacha.

Despite the shared "Tocai"/"Tai" naming with the entirely unrelated white grape Tocai Friulano (genetically Sauvignonasse), Tocai Rosso is a different variety altogether: isoenzyme analysis in 1990, later confirmed by DNA testing at the Istituto Sperimentale per la Viticoltura of Conegliano in 2005, established that it is genetically identical to Sardinia's Cannonau, France's Grenache and Spain's Garnacha. The most likely path traces back to Aragón in Spain (as Garnacha), reaching Sardinia first (as Cannonau, first cited there in the late 1500s) before spreading to France (as Grenache) and, separately, to the Veneto — likely introduced to the Vicenza area in the 16th century through commercial exchange with Spain and the western Mediterranean.

Its center of distribution today is the Colli Berici south of Vicenza, particularly the comuni of Lonigo, Alonte, Gambellara and Barbarano Mossano, where it is the principal red variety of Colli Berici DOC's Tocai Rosso (Tai Rosso) typology.