Gran Fondo

Gran Fondo is a range of everyday Italian wines under the broad Vino d'Italia designation, which permits fruit to be drawn from anywhere in the country and blended without regard to regional boundaries.

The name comes from cycling. A gran fondo is a long-distance mass-participation road race, of which Italy has a great many, and the term literally means great endurance. It suits a wine intended for the everyday rather than the occasion.

The red is worth a look for its inclusion of Longanesi, a Romagnolo variety found growing wild on a farmhouse wall in the 1950s, propagated by the family who found it and now grown by a small number of producers. It is not something one expects to find in a wine at this price.