Dessert Wines

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Dessert wines are unified by one characteristic — sweetness — but they arrive at that sweetness through a surprisingly wide range of methods, from late-harvested grapes and noble rot to naturally sweet grape varieties and halted fermentation. They range from lightly sweet and delicate to intensely rich and complex, and they’re not always reserved for dessert — many make wonderful aperitifs or companions to cheese.

Sparkling Dessert Wines

Sweeter sparkling wines are classified by their level of residual sugar: Dry (17–35 g/liter), Demi-Sec (35–50 g/liter), and Doux (50+ g/liter). Despite the name, “Dry” in this context is actually the sweetest of the standard sparkling wine categories — it’s sweet enough to qualify as a dessert wine.

Includes Asti Spumante, Moscato d’Asti, Sparkling Gewürztraminer, Demi-Sec Riesling, Demi-Sec Chenin Blanc, and Sparkling Rosés.

Lightly Sweet Dessert Wines

These gently sweet white wines have just enough residual sugar to feel indulgent without being cloying, making them lovely after-dinner drinks or a pairing for fruit-based desserts.

Includes Chenin Blanc, Gewürztraminer, Moscatel, Müller-Thurgau, Riesling, and Viognier.

Richly Sweet Dessert Wines

These are the most intensely sweet wines in the category, typically made from grapes that have been concentrated through late harvesting, freezing, or the effects of noble rot — a beneficial mold that shrivels the grapes and dramatically intensifies their sugars.

Includes Ice Wines, Late Harvest Wines, Muscat, Noble Rot, Sauternes, Sweet Riesling and Sweet Gewürztraminer.

Sweet Red Wines

Sweet red wines are less common than their white counterparts but offer a unique experience — the richness of red fruit flavors combined with noticeable sweetness. Late Harvest red wines are also included here, made from grapes picked very late in the season when sugar levels are at their peak; fermentation is halted before all the sugar converts to alcohol, resulting in wines that are lush, rich, and deeply flavored.

Includes Brachetto d’Acqui, Freisa, Lambrusco, Recioto della Valpolicella, Schiava, and Late Harvest red wines.

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