PK is Pat Kennedy, the tasting room and sales manager for Confre Cellars, St. Kathryn Cellars, Rocky Mountain Meadery, and Talon Winery. Now here's his secret: "People drink sweet wine," PK told me a while back. "They talk dry, but they drink sweet."

He should know. The combined output of the wineries includes many fruit wines and honey meads, nearly all of which have higher residual sugar than traditional wines. An aside: I have always had a little bit of a problem with the term fruit wines. Aren't  grapes fruit anymore?

PK came into his position last year after Glenn and Natalie Foster purchased Confre, St, Kathryn, and the Meadery. They moved their already existing tiny winery, Talon, from the Colorado Wine Room in Fruita after the purchase.

The Talon label is notable for the crisp but fruity Viogner and the sold-out red blend Red Rock. The fruit not grape wines are all made from fruit juice. During our tasting PK pointed out that some wineries will add fruit flavors after fermentation. Not here.

For those looking to transition from sweet wines to more robust red wines there is the "wine with training wheels", Blackberry Merlot. It is what it sounds like: a blend of blackberry wine and wine made from Merlot grapes. It retains characteristics  of both styles of wine, fruitiness and sweetness from the blackberries and some tannin dryness from the Merlot.

My favorite of the fruit wines is the Strawberry Rhubarb. It is delicate and lightly sweet. The aroma reminds me of a bowl of just tossed strawberries, rhubarb, and sugar waiting to go into a pie. The flavor is reminiscent of very ripe strawberries with a hint of rhubarb's tart punch. Its delicate nature is reflected in the pale salmon color.

Where it really gets interesting is mixed 50/50 with tonic water to make a summer cooler. The tonic seems to bring out the rhubarb lurking in the background. It makes a bright refreshing drink during our hot summer weather without packing too much of an alcohol punch.

So I will confess I can enjoy a sweet wine now and then. It feels good to get that out. I recommend you go see PK and his crew. You will feel better, too.