What Wine Is Sweet and Fruity? 10 Wines to Try Tonight

What wine is sweet and fruity? You’ve got so many options! Many famous wine making regions around the world bottle vibrant, fruit-forward wines with a little sweetness to them.

Sweet and fruity wines include Moscato d’Asti, White Zinfandel, Cabernet d’Anjou, demi-sec Vouvray, off-dry Riesling, Dolcetto, and icewine. Heavier sweet wines include Sauternes, white Port, and Vin Doux Naturel, which also have mouthwatering, fruity aromatics.

Here’s what you need to know what wine is sweet and fruity and how to find them.

Sweet and Fruity Wines: Wine Chart

Check out this wine chart that lists sweet and fruity wines. You can see that some styles of wines are always sweet (like White Port and Icewine) and other styles can be sweet and fruity or dry and fruity (like Riesling).

Some sweet and fruity wines are light and refreshing, like Vouvray and Dolcetto, while other sweet and fruity wines are heavier in style, like Sauternes and Vin Doux Naturel.

They’re still sweet and fruity, but not necessarily what you envision when you think ‘wine’.

You’ll want to experiment with different wines to get a sense of their stylistic range.

1 Sweet and Fruity: Moscato d’Asti

Moscato d’Asti: Moscato grapes, also called Moscato Bianco, makes beautifully fragrant white wines with white flower, stone fruit, and pungent grapey notes. They bring a rich perfume to any wine. Moscato d’Asti wines will always be low alcohol, light, fruity, and slightly sweet wines with a little spritz to them. Moscato d’Asti delivers a refreshing drinking experience perfect as an aperitif or lazy afternoon of sipping.

2 Sweet and Fruity Wine: White Zinfandel

White Zinfandel: Don’t let the name fool you, White Zinfandel is actually pink, or rosé, as they say. Made from Zinfandel grapes, White Zinfandel delivers juicy strawberry, raspberry, and melon flavors. Winemakers craft White Zinfandels with a kiss of sugar to them, making these wines wonderfully appealing if you’re looking for a sweet and fruity wine.

3 Sweet and Fruity Wine: Cabernet d’Anjou

Cabernet d’Anjou: Cabernet d’Anjou is another fun pink wine that’s sweet and fruity. These rosé wines come from the Loire Valley in France. They’re made with Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, not what you’d typically think of as rosé wine grapes, which makes them fascinating wines. You’ll need to go to a specialty wine shop to find a bottle of Cabernet d’Anjou, but it’s well worth the effort if you’re looking to try something a little different and a little more robust than a standard White Zinfandel.

4 Sweet and Fruity: Riesling

Riesling: Originally from Germany, Rieslings come in a range of styles, from fully dry to lusciously sweet. Like Moscato, Riesling grapes are highly aromatic with powerful notes of white jasmine, citrus, and stone fruits. Look for Rieslings that have lower alcohol or use the little sweetness indicator on the back of your bottle to pick a sweet and fruity wine.

Helpful Tip: Stay away from German Rieslings with a GG on the label or bottle glass, this is a fully dry Riesling wine style.

Grosses Gewächs, or “great growths” (GG for short) Rieslings will always be steely dry Riesling wines. They’re still fruity, but you’ll want to avoid GG wines if you’re looking for a wine that’s fruity and sweet.

Tip: Check out this post to read more about Riesling wine.

5 Sweet and Fruity Wine: Demi-sec Vouvray

Demi-sec Vouvray: White Vouvray wines made with Chenin Blanc grapes come from the Loire Valley in France. Chenin Blanc wines offer up juicy pair, sweet golden apple, quince, and chamomile flowers in your glass.

Look for Vouvray on the label, but also the words demi-sec. Demi-sec, or off dry, means that your Vouvray will be fruity and sweet.

Vouvray’s a perfect stepping stone from Moscato d’Asti to more mainstream white table wines.

Helpful Tip: Here’s a deep-dive into Chenin Blanc tasting notes that will give you a full overview of the range of styles and flavors this little white grape can off you.

6 Sweet and Fruity: Dolcetto

Dolcetto: Dolcetto is an off-dry red wine. Hailing from the Piedmont region of Italy, Dolcetto means ‘little sweet one’. True to its namesake, Dolcetto wines are usually light on the tannins, on the lower side of alcohol, and off-dry. Dolcettos are fruity, sweet ruby red wines with blackberry, black plum, cherry, violet, and black pepper. Dolcettos are generally affordable, for everyday drinkers (under $20 USD), but you’ll probably need to find them at a specialty wine shop. 

Tip: Check out this helpful post for a 30-second lesson on how to taste red wine tannins.

7 Sweet and Fruity: Icewine

Icewine: Icewines are always sweet and fruity with a crystalline purity to their profile. These special winter wines use grapes harvested while they’re frozen in the middle of winter.. The winemaker separates the water ice crystals from the grapes and ferments the grapes with the remaining concentrated juice. This process creates powerfully fruity, sweet wines.

You’ll find ice wines from Canada and Germany at most specialty wine markets.

Treat icewines like a dessert in themselves, or pair them with your fruit and cream-based desserts.

Icewines are another great option if you’re moving from Moscato d’Asti to higher alcohol wines that still forefront fresh fruit in your glass.

8 Sweet and Fruity Wine: Sauternes

Sauternes: Sauternes (pronounced saw-turn) is a white dessert wine made in Bordeaux, France. These wines bring marmalade, honey, almond, and sweet stone fruits to your glass.

Winemakers use grapes that have been affected by “noble rot,” a type of fungus, that concentrates the grapes’ sugars and flavors.

The resulting wine is a nectar of sunshine that’s powerfully sweet and fruity.

9 Sweet and Fruity Wine: White Port

White Port: White Port is made with Muscat grapes, the same grape family used for Moscato d’Asti. It’s no surprise, then, that White Port’s an excellent sweet and fruity wine.

White Port is much higher alcohol than Muscato d’Asti, coming in at and eyewatering 19% to 22% ABV, so sip slowly!

Expect a similar taste profile as Moscato d’Asti: white flower, grape, honey, stone fruit, and light citrus.

White Port isn’t widely exported, so look for it at a specialty wine shop. Keep leftover wine stoppered up in your fridge and enjoy it within a few weeks of opening.

Helpful Tip: Go check out this post that will help you figure out how to read a wine label.

10 Sweet and Fruity Wine: Vin Doux Naturel

Vin Doux Naturel: Vin Doux Naturel (VDN) in French means ‘Wine Sweet Naturally’. What better wine than a VDN if you want something sweet and fruity?

VDNs come from southern France and can be both white and red.

White VDNS are made with … wait for it… Muscat grapes. Red VDNs can be a combination of grapes, including Grenache and Carignan. VDNs are fortified wines made to forefront the natural fruitiness in the grapes. VDNs aren’t widely distributed, but are absolutely worth seeking out if you want to try a different kind of sweet and fruity wine.

Helpful Tip: Check out this post to figure out how to read a VDN label and how to pick out a good VDN wine.

Final Thoughts – Sweet, Fruity Wine Styles

The world of wine offers an eclectic range of sweet and fruity wines. Some styles, like Moscato d’Asti and White Zinfandel, are readily available at almost any store that sells wine.

Others, like Cabernet d’Anjou, White Port, and VDN, require a little bit of work, but are so worth the extra effort, especially if you’re looking to explore new wine styles. Go forth!

Ready for more? Check out this fun post on why some wines are sweet.

Whether you’re looking for a low-alcohol, friendly crowd-pleaser like Moscato d’Asti, or willing to be more adventurous with a powerful White Port, there’s a sweet and fruity wine for everyone. One of the greatest gifts wine gives us is coming in so many diverse styles.

Dessert. Summer sipping. Camping. Lazy afternoons.

Sweet, fruity wines have their place on the table in your glass. Go find something delicious.

Thirsty for More?

Check out this post that tells you exactly how to know if the wine you’re buying is sweet (or not).

Ready to explore some more? Check out this post that explains why some wines are sweet.

Here’s a great post that goes into good sweet wine for beginners – table wines to dessert wines and so much more!