We all love grand red wines that grab you by the lapels and inspire detailed food pairings, but there's always a need for a good every-day red. A wine that’s easy and goes with just about anything. Even if Grand Cru is not in the budget, there’s no reason ever to settle for mediocre wine--especially if it's for "every day".

Is there one all-around red that can suit all situations? Maybe not, but Villa Locatelli Cabernet Franc can go a long way toward being the indispensable, Swiss Army knife ‘house’ red that you’ll always want on hand.

For a wine of Villa Locatelli Cabernet Franc's crowd-pleasing style and quality, it's hard to do better in the <=$20 retail tier. The wine has pure drinkability that resembles Beaujolais, with notes of ripe juicy red fruit, bright acidity, soft tannins, great complexity and savory flavor that draw you in. Where Chinon's hallmark funkiness and sometimes strong vegetal character can be polarizing, Villa Locatelli Cabernet Franc is a crowd-pleaser that easily transcends to be a Swiss-Army like staple.

So many wines compete for the 'house red' slot that Friulan Cabernet Franc is still relatively unknown here. But it's a proven winner in Friuli, where it's a 'house red' in local gastropubs, called ‘Frasche’. When the Prosciutto San Daniele and Montasio cheese hit the table you’re most likely to have some local Cabernet Franc in your glass because everyone loves it.

It might be surprising that Cabernet Franc is a local favorite in a region known for so many excellent, indigenous varieties, like the age-worthy wines from the hills of Collio and Colli Orientali along the Slovenian border. But hundreds of years ago, Cabernet Franc “found a home” in Friuli’s alluvial plains that connect the Dolomites in the North to the Adriatic Sea, where wide, gravelly river beds provide idyllic conditions.

Villa Locatelli has spent lots of time perfecting its Cabernet Franc. As part of Tenuta di Angoris--Friuli's oldest winery (established 1648) and still family-owned, the wine is grown in the best part of Isonzo, where the gravelly soils have optimal draining and aspect.

Proprietor Marta Locatelli has upped the ante on quality, calling on Bordeaux oenologists and introducing best practices in sustainable farming. Villa Locatelli Cabernet Franc is 100% estate farmed and bottled, and the winery is certified SQNPI for sustainable agriculture.

Villa Locatelli will not make you forget Clos Rougeard, Baudry or Guiberteau nor does it ambitiously take on Cheval Blanc and St. Emilion but it’s a delicious easy-going wine that will keep you interested bottle after bottle. It’s an obvious match for your typical Cab Franc pairings like burgers, roast meat and poultry, and it wouldn’t be out of place with robust seafood dishes. When you want something delicious and effortless, it’s just the kind of every-day red you are glad you have.