Sweet wines are not my favorite varieties to drink, yet I find them fascinating.

There is a huge variety of different grapes, fermentation methods, and cultural influences that go into the making of sweet wines.

A lot of the characteristics that shape your flavor profile for traditional white or red wines are shifted when the aspect of sweetness is introduced.

The best way I’ve found to navigate the different flavors is by exploring sweet wines to find those suiting my palate and desired purpose, whether it’s something light and fluffy for lunch or dinner, or a more fortified tipple to enjoy as a nightcap.

The following collection of the best sweet wines to drink provides a great starting point as you build up your knowledge, providing you with a good grasp of the essential tastes you can put to use in any situation.

Dessert Wine

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1. Disznoko Tokaji Aszú 6 Puttonyos

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Tokaji Aszú is a full-bodied and extremely sweet white dessert wine grown in the Tokaj wine region of north eastern Hungary. It’s made from grapes that have been affected by a mold called Botrytis Cinerea, which creates an effect known as noble rot.

Under controlled circumstances, noble rot is allowed to invade the grapes in order to concentrate the fruit’s residual sugar into a sweetness that’s not dissimilar in flavor from honey.

With Hungarian dessert wine, the higher the number of puttonyos, the Hungarian word for a basket in which the Tokaji Aszu (grapes) are gathered, the sweeter the wine is.

This bottle from Disznoko is a premium dessert wine and is well worth the price for a 500 ml bottle. It’s great as an aperitif after a dinner of meat or high carbs, such as pasta, a hearty stew, or chunky casserole.

2. Inniskillin Riesling Ice Wine 2019

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Ice wine is a form of sweet wine that’s been produced from grapes that have been frozen on the vine at -10c from December to January (hence why Canada is home to some of the best varieties).