My rating? 1.5 stars out of 5

As shortly as 8 months ago, the thought of a sweet wine made my eyes roll without even thinking about it, but I’ve really begun to develop a taste for sweet, fruity homemade wines.

I was looking for just that the other night — something similar to a grapy, sweet homemade wine.  There were plenty of choices in the store, perhaps too many, but none that looked like a good match with a price I was willing to risk.

So, I found this 2007 Sutter Home California White Merlot for $7.50 … I figured at least it wouldn’t be as harsh as a typical Merlot because of the white.  Little did I know it was pure “rotgut.”

It has a quite yeasty flavor, and the white touching the red gives an ever so blaring hint of vinegar …

Chilled, it does have a tolerable flavor, but only because it is overloaded with sugar. In fact, I believe it is just enough to trick you into thinking it’s sweet, but still manage to steal any character that the original merlot may have brought to the bottle …

Not likely to take a risk on ANY Sutter Home wine in the future …