Sweet Red Wine For Beginners: 10 Delicious Bottles to Sip Now

It’s a good idea to go sweet if you’re just starting to explore red wine! 

Sweet red wines will delight your palate with their easy-drinking character and refreshing flavors. And, you’ll find plenty of options to start experimenting with right away, including sparkling Shiraz, Port wine, and many more.

Here’s all you need to know about the most popular sweet red wine styles, the best bottles to try, their prices, and some great food pairings.

10 Best Sweet Red Wine Styles For Beginners (Including Flavors & Best Bottle Recommendations)

Whether you’re more of a white wine drinker or just not a red wine lover yet, here are some great options that will make you fall in love with reds:

1. Cabernet Franc

Cabernet Franc is a popular black grape variety mainly blended with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in the production of Bordeaux-style blends. This red grape also makes some delicious sweet red wines.

Cabernet Franc sweet red wine has a dominant raspberry fruit flavor with hints of dried red fruit, bell pepper and cassis.

2. Lambrusco

Lambrusco is another great sweet red wine for beginners. 

The Lambrusco grape variety is native to Northern Italy. It’s mainly used in the production of slightly fizzy red wines labeled as Amabile (semi-sweet) or Dolce (very sweet).

This grape can also produce bone dry red wine styles (with less than 1% residual sugar.) 

When you pour Lambrusco in your red wine glass, you’ll notice it has reddish hues. The red wine sweetness is accompanied by delightful raspberry, blackberry, pomegranate, and cherry fruit flavors with a hint of almonds.

3. Sparkling Shiraz

Sparkling Shiraz is a sweet red Australian wine with delicate effervescence.

This sparkling wine has a fruity flavor with chocolate, cherry, blackberry, strawberry, and oak hints.

4. Brachetto

Brachetto is a black-skinned Italian red grape that produces delicious sweet wines. 

The Brachetto red wine tends to be light-bodied (similar to Beaujolais), with distinctive red fruit and black currant flavor notes. 

A Brachetto wine is highly aromatic, so let it breathe for a bit in your wine glass before you take your first sip. The sweet red wine has aromas of tar, clove, and orchids with very low tannin levels.

5. Black Muscat

Black Muscat is a black-skinned grape variety that produces sweet wine with a high ABV. 

The grape is a cross between Schiava Grossa (Trollinger) and Muscat of Alexandria (white wine grape) and it’s grown across the globe.

A Black Muscat wine has notes of raspberry, violets, and black tea with a balanced sweetness on the palate.

6. Dornfelder

Dornfelder is a German grape variety used in the making of both dry and sweet red wine. This dark-skinned grape is a cross between Helfensteiner and Heroldrebe.

A Dornfelder sweet red wine is usually medium-bodied with aromas of cherry, plum, fresh blackberry, and spiced herbs. It also has low tannin levels and medium acidity.

7. Port Wine

Port wine is a fortified wine with ABV of around 20%. This sweet wine is blend of native Portuguese grape varieties such as Tinta Barroca, Tinta Roriz (Tempranillo), Tinta Cao, Touriga Francesa, and Touriga Nacional.

It's a heavy and rich fruity wine, with raspberry, blackberry, cinnamon, caramel, and chocolate sauce notes.

This fortified wine is a delicious treat on its own - served as an aperitif or a digestive.

8. Grenache Wine

Grenache is a widely cultivated red wine grape grown in warmer climates. The grape originated in Spain, where it’s also known as Garnacha.

This red wine grape isn’t as popular as Pinot Noir, Malbec, Zinfandel, or Merlot, but it’s quite versatile. It can produce a dry red wine or Rose wine as well as a delicious sweet or semi sweet red wine. 

The sweet red wine produced from Grenache is medium-bodied with a high ABV. It packs fruity flavors of strawberry, blood orange, and notes of spicy pepper. The palate is soft with plush tannin mouthfeel.

9. Cabernet Sauvignon Wine

If you’re a devoted wine drinker, Cabernet Sauvignon should sound familiar. It’s a popular red grape grown all over the world. This grape variety usually produces dry wine (similar to Petite Sirah and Malbec.) 

Cabernet Sauvignon red wine is often aged in an oak barrel, enhancing its tannin levels and spice character.

The sweet red Cabernet has fruity cherry and blackberry aromas along with notes of black pepper, cinnamon, violet, eucalyptus, and anise. You’ll also taste hints of cedar and tobacco.

10. Ice Wine

Ice wine can be both red and white wine. Either way, it’s a great option for beginners looking for a really sweet wine. 

This type of dessert wine is made with wine grapes that freeze on the vines. These berries produce naturally sweet wine with concentrated sugar levels and aromas.

11 Best Sweet Red Wine Bottles to Buy in 2023

Here’s a curated list of best wines from the styles we saw above:

1. 2004 Inniskillin Legacy Edition Karl Kaiser Cabernet Franc Icewine ($347)
2. Cleto Chiarli Lambrusco Grasparossa di Castelvetro Centenario Amabile ($14)
3. 2009 Paringa Sparkling Shiraz ($20)
4. Acquesi Brachetto d'Acqui DOCG ($12)
5. 2002 Quady Winery Elysium Black Muscat Dessert Wine ($52)
6. 2017 Weinhaus Schloss Koblenz Sweet Red Wine Dornfelder ($12)
7. 1997 Taylor Fladgate Vintage Port ($107)
8. Sandeman Fine Ruby Port ($16)
9. 1980 Mas Amiel Maury Vintage Grenache ($65)
10. Yellow Tail Jammy Red Roo Cabernet Sauvignon ($5)
11. 2013 Peller Estates Signatures Series Cabernet Franc Icewine ($122)

(If you’d like to check out the more expensive, investment-grade bottles, head over to our guide to Sweet Red Wine.)

Sweet Red Wine Food Pairings

A sweet wine would go perfectly with sweet foods like cake, creme brulee, or chocolate. However, it’s a good idea to have your dish less sweeter than the red wine.

Apart from desserts, sweet red wines are the perfect match for sweet sauces, fruit reductions, and honey glazes.

Lastly, you can serve your red wine with cured meats and various cheese boards.

Make Room For A Sweet Red Wine In Your Collection!

Sweet red wines are the perfect way to enter the world of reds. The sweetness softens the harsh red wine tannins, enchanting you with enhanced fruity palate and opulent aromas. 

As a beginner red wine drinker, you have plenty to explore since the list of sweet red wines is endless. 

But if you're a wine lover who wants to buy fine wines or collectibles, check out the Vinovest website. It’s an online wine investment platform where you can buy, store, and sell authentic dry red wine or any other bottles from around the world.