Alcohol Free Merlot: FAIL

Here's something I learned at Thanksgiving dinner this year: avoid all pretend wines.

No kidding, you say.  Well, I had fond memories of Sparkling Catabwa from Christmas dinners from my childhood, so I thought maybe they would be worth a shot.  First up: Welch's Sparkling Juice Cocktail.  This one was so sweet it was like drinking Sprite mixed with grape juice concentrate.  Please, don't ever buy this for an adult person.

The real revelation was the Fre Merlot, labeled "alcohol removed."  Surely this would be a step up?  According to the back of the bottle, this stuff is "19% juice."  Maybe when you remove the alcohol, you remove 19% of the wine?  And you have to fill up the rest of the bottle with ... juice?  That's sure what it tasted like.  If you enjoy your merlot with a big shot of Welch's grape juice in it, this might be the drink for you.

Otherwise, no.