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Dearly Beloved I Thee Red

The second Trader Joe's Fearless Flyer wine that I tried this month comes in an unusual bottle and is called "Dearly Beloved I Thee Red".  The "Dearly Beloved" line of wines comes from a Healdsburg California winery Truett-Hurst and is made exclusively for Trader Joe's.  Truett-Hurst was founded by a group that includes Paul Dolan, former  president of Fetzer Wines. 

This wine is a blend of  Merlot, Syrah, Zinfandel and Petit Syrah from grapes grown in the Central Coast of California.  That region stretches from Santa Barbera to San Francisco Bay and includes areas such as Paso Robles and Monterrey.  The wine has an alcohol content of 14.5%.

This is a medium bodied wine with flavors of dark cherry, blackberry and a little mocha.  The wine starts smoothly but has some oak on the finish.  The high alcohol content is not detectable and the finish lasts a while.  The wine is $7.99 at TJ's and I think it tastes like a $12 plus bottle so it is a good value.  This is a wine to enjoy with casual food such as burgers or tacos.

SC Wine Joe rating = 88 points.





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