Sweet Red Wines · fruity + tasty

What are Sweet Red Wines?

Sweet red wines are wines in which the grapes’ natural sugars are not fully fermented into alcohol. As a result, they have a pronounced natural sweetness and taste fruit-forward, round and full-flavoured.

Whether you enjoy them on your own or share them in good company, sweet red wines have been growing in popularity for years—despite all the “experts” who insist everything should be dry.

Sweet or Semi-Sweet Red Wines—Which are Sweeter?

Both wine styles show a noticeable sweetness. Wine law, however, distinguishes them by their level of residual sugar:

Semi-sweet red wines contain slightly less sweetness than sweet red wines.

If you would like to choose specifically by sweetness level, you will find an overview of all semi-sweet wines and all sweet wines here.

How do Sweet Red Wines Taste?

Our sweet red wines are distinctly fruity and characterised by soft, ripe tannins. Depending on the grape variety, their colour ranges from the ruby red of Pinot Noir to the deep, dark red of Dunkelfelder.

Semi-Sweet + Sweet Red Wines From Our Own Vineyards

Here you will find all non-dry red wines from our own vineyards, which we have deliberately crafted with natural residual sweetness.

Semi-Sweet and Sweet Red Wines—Technical Classification

The terms “semi-sweet” and “sweet” are clearly defined under EU wine law and refer exclusively to the level of residual sugar:

• Semi-sweet: 18–45 g/l residual sugar
• Sweet: more than 45 g/l residual sugar

There is virtually no upper limit to sweetness: an intensely sweet red dessert wine can easily contain well over 100 g/l of residual sugar.

Semi-sweet red wines at the upper end of the range are often perceived as “sweet” in taste. As with white wine, perception is highly individual. What matters is not residual sugar alone, but the interaction between sweetness, acidity and tannins. In red wines in particular, tannins have a strong influence on how sweetness is perceived.

In everyday language, terms such as “sweet”, “semi-sweet”, “mild” and “easy-drinking” are therefore often used interchangeably, depending on personal taste.

Enjoying Semi-Sweet and Sweet Red Wines

These red wines are true wines for enjoyment—perfect as a stand-alone drink, enjoyed simply for the pleasure of their flavour. Whether during a relaxed evening in front of the television, a get-together with friends, with music and/or a good book—once opened, these wines invite you to linger.

A large, generously shaped wine glass gives the red wine enough space to unfold its flavours.

It Cannot Always be Dry: Sweet Red Wines with Food

Of course, these wines can also be enjoyed with food. Semi-sweet and sweet red wines pair well with many dishes, especially roasted meats, richly seasoned goulash or sliced meat dishes, grilled or smoked meats, cheese, as well as chocolate- or nut-based desserts and pastries.

Serving Temperature

Semi-sweet and sweet red wines show at their best at around 16–18 °C. If you prefer, they can also be lightly chilled—what matters most is what tastes best to you.

Decanting Semi-Sweet Red Wines

To allow the wine to “breathe”, we recommend opening the bottle well before serving. Carefully decanting the wine into a carafe increases contact with air and supports the development of its aromas. Any natural sediment will settle at the neck of the bottle during careful decanting.

Which Grape Varieties are Used for Sweet Red Wines?

The residual sweetness of a red wine does not depend on the grape variety, but on fermentation and bottling. In principle, any red grape variety can be vinified as sweet or dry. Some varieties, however, produce particularly distinctive results when made in a semi-sweet or sweet style.

Classics and Rare Varieties

Besides classic grape varieties such as Pinot Noir, our range includes several rare varieties that offer welcome variety and distinctive flavour experiences in red wine enjoyment.

Among the less commonly grown grape varieties from which we produce semi-sweet or sweet red wines are:

• Dunkelfelder, very dark and intensely fruity
• Regent, a fruit-forward modern variety
• Moscato Rosa, a rare speciality with a spicy rose-like bouquet

Colour Spectrum of Sweet Red Wines

Whether a red wine appears ruby red or deep dark red depends on how intensely the berries of its grape variety are coloured. The natural colour intensity of sweet red wines therefore varies greatly depending on the variety.

Ruby-Red Sweet Red Wines

Red grape varieties with dark skins but light juice and pale flesh produce wines with a clear, attractive ruby-red colour.

• Moscato Rosa
• Pinot Noir

Deep Dark-Red Sweet Red Wines

Red grape varieties with dark, fully pigmented flesh and dark juice produce particularly colour-intense wines, often appearing almost blue-black in colour:

• Dornfelder
• Dunkelfelder
• Regent

How Do Sweet Red Wines Become Sweet?

First of all: No, sweet red wines are not made by adding sugar. Their sweetness comes exclusively from the grapes’ natural sugars.

There are two common methods used to produce sweet wines. Let us take a look in the cellar:

1. Stopping fermentation: Fermentation is halted by cooling and filtration once the desired level of sweetness has been reached.
2. Sweet reserve: A portion of the grape must is cooled and stored before fermentation and added back to the fully fermented wine shortly before bottling.

We prefer working with sweet reserve, as it allows the wines to mature longer on the lees and enables very precise adjustment of the sweetness level.

Quality of Sweet Red Wines

Our red wines with residual sweetness are German quality wines. We produce them with the same care as our dry red wines:

• from fully ripe, healthy grapes
• gently pressed with minimal pressure
• fine pre-filtration for crystal-clear must
• slow, temperature-controlled fermentation
• extended ageing on the lees to develop aroma

Quality Assurance

Residual sweetness is not a question of quality, but of style. A pleasant side effect of sweet red wines is their often slightly lower alcohol content at the same initial must weight.

How We Ensure Quality

• Only fault-free wines with varietal character are bottled.
• After mandatory analysis, samples are submitted for the Chamber of Agriculture’s official quality testing.
• Only after passing this test may the wines be labelled “German Quality Wine”.