Wine style

What is sweet wine?

Sweet wine is wine with noticeable residual sugar. It is made by concentrating the sugar in the grapes through noble rot, late harvesting, freezing or drying, or by stopping fermentation early, for example by adding spirit. Famous examples include Sauternes, Tokaji Aszú, Trockenbeerenauslese and ice wine.

Serving temperature	6–10 °C
Wines on WineGuessr	43, from 10 countries

How it is made

Sweet wines balance sugar and alcohol in several ways. Some grapes, such as Muscat, are naturally very sugary, and leaving them to hang late concentrates them further. Noble rot, the fungus Botrytis cinerea, dries out ripe berries and adds honey and apricot flavours. For ice wine (Eiswein), grapes are left to freeze on the vine at −7 °C or colder and pressed while frozen, so only concentrated syrup flows out. Grapes can also be air-dried or dried on straw, as for Vin Santo and Italian Recioto wines. Finally, fermentation can be stopped while sugar remains, either by adding spirit (see fortified wine) or sweetness can be added after fermentation with unfermented grape juice (Süssreserve), which also lowers the alcohol.

Main styles and grapes

Botrytis wines are the most famous group: Sauternes in Bordeaux, made from Sémillon, Sauvignon Blanc and Muscadelle; Tokaji Aszú from Furmint and Hárslevelű; German Beerenauslese and Trockenbeerenauslese from Riesling; and Loire Chenin Blanc such as Quarts de Chaume and Bonnezeaux. Ice wine includes German Eiswein and the icewine of Canada's Niagara Peninsula. Dried-grape wines include Passito di Pantelleria and Malvasia delle Lipari. Lighter sweet wines include Moscato d'Asti, while fortified sweet wines include Port and vins doux naturels such as Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise.

Famous examples

Château d'Yquem in Sauternes was ranked Premier Cru Supérieur in the 1855 classification, ahead of first growths such as Château Climens and Château Suduiraut. Tokaji Aszú was praised as the wine of kings and king of wines, and its sweetness was traditionally measured in puttonyos; Tokaji Eszencia, with 500 to 900 g of sugar per litre, is among the sweetest wines in the world. South Africa's Vin de Constance descends from the Constantia wine Napoleon ordered in exile. Other classics are Jurançon and Monbazillac from south-west France, Ruster Ausbruch from Austria and Samos Muscat from Greece.

Serving and food

Sweet white wines are served chilled: the Wine & Spirit Education Trust recommends 6–8 °C for sweet wines, and other tables give 6–10 °C for light-bodied sweet wines such as Sauternes and Trockenbeerenauslese. Sweet red wines are served at room temperature or slightly cool. The usual rule is that the wine should be sweeter than the dish it accompanies, otherwise it tastes thin and sour; chocolate desserts are among the hardest matches. In the United Kingdom, dessert wine means a sweet wine drunk with a meal, while in United States law a dessert wine is any wine above 14% alcohol.

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Sweet wine on the map (43)

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Sweet wine: questions and answers

How is sweet wine made?

Sweet wine is made either by concentrating the sugar in the grapes (late harvest, noble rot, freezing or drying) or by stopping fermentation before all the sugar has turned into alcohol. Fermentation can be stopped by adding spirit, as in Port.

What is noble rot?

Noble rot is the fungus Botrytis cinerea, which dehydrates ripe grapes and adds honey and apricot flavours. It is behind Sauternes, Tokaji Aszú and Trockenbeerenauslese.

What is ice wine?

Ice wine (Eiswein) is made from grapes frozen on the vine at −7 °C or colder and pressed while still frozen. The water stays behind as ice, so the juice is very concentrated and sweet.

What is the sweetest wine in the world?

Tokaji Eszencia from Hungary is often called the sweetest wine in the world, with 500 to 900 g of sugar per litre and only about 5 to 6% alcohol.

What temperature should sweet wine be served at?

Serve sweet white wines chilled, at about 6–10 °C. Sweet red wines are served at room temperature or slightly cool.

Other wine styles

All wine styles →

Sources: en.wikipedia.org, en.wikipedia.org, en.wikipedia.org

Last reviewed October 2026.