Extreme Novice - need a little help

[Therant]

Hello all. I am very new to wine. I literally had my first taste of wine 2 weeks ago. I tried a pinot noir by Vendange. It was awful. It was very bitter and not at all what I was looking for. I'm wondering if anyone can help me find a really good sweet wine? What is the sweetest inexpensive wine out there? I really hope to find a fruity sweet wine for evening drinks. A friend suggested a merlot, but I thought merlot was drier than pinot. I pretty much plan to have the wine alone, and maybe occasionally when I eat out Italian. Any help will be very appreciated.