Skip to main content

The Manual may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site.

The 10 Best Sweet Wines for 2022

A glass filled with wine with plants as background.

When sweet wine is mentioned, what comes to mind is grandma’s favorite Riesling or Manischewitz. And while these choices tend to be technically sweet, they’re just a drop in what a delicious bucket full of sweet white and red wines has to offer. There are, in fact, a plurality of styles and directions to go within the category, united by higher residual sugar content but vastly diverse in terms of taste, fragrance, and build.

We also tend to equate cheap and poorly made with sweet wines — another common mistake. Highly revered and expensive options like Sauternes have earned icon status over the years. Here at The Manual, a sweet wine made it onto our best wines list, with a lot more coming very close to making the cut. You get the point. There are some fantastic sweet wines out there, from complex Port to late-harvest Gewurztraminer made in the ice wine style.

Related Videos

The next time you’re after a sweeter wine to accompany a funky cheese or to sip on post-meal, consider these fantastic offerings. You can also check out the best wine subscription box services for more.

Related Reading

Taylor Fladgate 30-Year-Old Tawny Port

Taylor Fladgate 30-Year Tawny Port Bottle on a white background.

This outstanding Port from the world-renowned Douro Valley of Portugal is full and nuanced. It’s also silky-smooth and fun to check in on with each little sip as it blossoms in the glass and flexes the many flavors that come from decades of aging.

Read More: What is Port Wine?

S.A. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese Grosse Lage

A bottle of S.A. Prum Riesling on a white background.

Quite a lot of Riesling is actually bone dry and zippy. This one is more stereotypical in that it’s quite sweet, but has all the complexity of a lauded Chianti Classico or Burgundy. The coveted 2017 vintage is no longer available but others are and are just about as tasty.

Château Climens Barsac

A bottle of Chateau Climens Sauternes on a white background.

A magical Sauterne, this wine possesses a feathery weight while packing tons of flavor and detail. Notes of marmalade, nectarine, honey, and vanilla greet the palate and while a number of vintages are great now, this style of sweet wine can age for a long, long time and improve even more en route.

Inniskillin Cabernet Franc Ice Wine

A bottle of Inniskillin Cab Franc Ice Wine on a white background.

This Canadian wine is one of relatively few made in the traditional ice wine style. Picking a bit later, after a freeze, locks in higher sugar levels prior to fermentation and the result here is an incredibly pretty wine with notes of cherry, wild raspberry, and strawberry taffy.

Read More: What is Ice Wine?

Royal Tokaji 5 Puttonyos

A bottle of Royal Tokaji 5 Puttonyos Wine on a white background.

This remarkable dessert wine from Hungary shows honey, peaches, and spice. The sweetness is offset elegantly by some firm acidity and the overall mouthfeel is engrossing and unmatched.

Felsina Vin Santo del Chianti Clasico

A bottle of Felsina Vin Santo on a white background.

This delightful half-bottle (or split, as the industry likes to call the format) is the perfect companion to some biscotti or gelato for a complete dessert. It’s complex and presents a beautiful hue, with nutty richness balanced out by some sherry-like brine and dried fruit components.

Tenuta Sant’Antonio “Nanfrè” Valpolicella

A bottle of Tenuta Sant’Antonio "Nanfrè" Valpolicella on a white background.

A heralded Italian king at least in Europe, Valpolicella doesn’t have nearly the following here in the states. But it should, as it’s not overly sweet and typically balanced out with some nice fruit and even savory components. This one is luminously bright, showing ripe red fruit and a little earth.

Gonzalez Byass Nectar P.X. Sherry

A bottle shot of Gonzalez Byass Pedro Ximenez Sherry on a white background.

Pedro Ximenez sherry is one of the sweetest wines on the planet, a rich and fulfilling option ideal for capping supper. This decadent wine shows raisin, candied dates, malt, and toasted almond flavors.

Read More: Beginners’ Guide to Sherry Wine

Marchesi di Gresy La Serra Moscato d’Asti

A bottle of Marchesi di Gresy La Serra Moscato d'Asti on a white background.

One of the more famous sweet wine styles, Moscato d’Asti flutters with flavor while being light on the palate. They tend to be low in alcohol (this one is just 5% ABV) and softly effervescent. This stellar option spills over with floral aromatics and juicy fruit and honeycomb elements.

Far Niente Dolce

A bottle of Far Niente Dolce Dessert Wine on a white background.

Known for excellent Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, Far Niente also makes a mean sweet wine in the Dolce. Made from Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon, it offers fig and orchard fruit flavors with a fair amount of sweetness accented by some grassier notes.

Read More: Best Cabernet Sauvignon

Editors' Recommendations

The 7 best CBD-infused drinks we tried in 2023
These tasty CBD-infused drinks will have you feeling calmer in no time
Cans o RisEau cbd drinks.

Cannabidiol, or CBD, has been hot for a while now, making its way into everything from CBD teas to a variety of CBD coffee brands. If you're wondering "what is CBD?" — it's a naturally occurring compound present in cannabis plants. According to the World Health Organization, it's not addictive, has a solid safety profile, and won't get you high. In clinical trials, it's been effective in the treatment of epilepsy and shows promise in treating a number of other conditions.

In addition to CBD-infused water, tea, soda, and seltzer, another growing trend is CBD-infused nonalcoholic spirits and cocktails. The adult beverage market is flooded with CBD products promising to help you relax, sleep, destress, and mellow out, all without the hangover you'd get from booze (CBD is considered a controlled substance and can't be legally added to booze, at least not yet). We've rounded up a few of our favorite CBD-infused drinks below, from CBD cocktails to CBD water, so you can work your relaxation into your daily routine no matter where you are.

Read more
Here’s how to make a margarita, according to top bartenders
The only margarita recipes you'll ever need
margarita tequila cocktail lime strainer

The best margaritas do not grow on trees, nor do they show up in a can (although there are some tasty canned drinks these days). No, the tastiest version of the tequila classic is made fresh, with love and care and some wisdom from a couple of top bartenders.

It's a balancing act, for sure, but when it's dialed-in, the margarita is one of the best and most refreshing cocktails ever devised. The classic mix of agave spirit, lime, salt, and a touch of sweetness is great alone or with any number of dishes, especially within Mexican cuisine (the nation where the drink was born).

Read more
Bubbly? Full-bodied and red? Zesty and white? Your favorite wine types, explained
All the primary types of wine (and everything you need to know about them)
Glasses of different kinds of wine

Trying to understand everything about wine all at once is an impossible endeavor. Wine is a beautifully complicated, ever-changing quiddity, and even the most decorated and prestigious wine experts in the world often find themselves confounded by its constant little surprises.
That isn't to say that, if you care to, you shouldn't become educated on the subject of wine. It's a hobby and a passion that's tremendously fun to pursue, and there's much to learn on the matter.
If you find yourself in the beginning stages of your wine education, just as in everything, you'll want to start with the basics. It's possible that up until now, you haven't put much thought into the several different kinds of wine there are, except for, say, red and white. But while there are obviously exceptions within every hard and fast rule, for the most part, wine can be broken down into roughly nine categories. Here we'll take a minute to break those categories down, explain what they mean, which wines fall into them, and, our favorite - how to drink those wines.

Sparkling wine

Read more