If you love semi-sweet wines, you’re not alone — it’s the most popular style in the U.S. Italian semi-sweet wines are versatile and enjoyable, whether you’re a wine enthusiast or someone who just wants a glass of something nice with dinner.
Keep reading to learn more about semi-sweet wine and our tips for enjoying it.
What Semi-Sweet Wine Is
When wine ferments, the yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes to produce alcohol. Any sugar left over in this process is called residual sugar.
A sweet wine has more than 30 grams of residual sugar per liter, and a dry wine has less than 10 grams per liter. Anything in between is classified as semi-sweet or semi-dry, depending on how sweet or dry it tastes.
Since semi-sweet wines vary so much in taste, most people can find wines of this type that they enjoy. Additionally, the sweetness adds complexity and richness to wines without becoming overpowering.
How to Enjoy Semi-Sweet Wine
Generally, semi-sweet wines are best when you serve them lightly chilled, but not too cold: you still want to be able to taste the delicate flavors. An hour or two in the refrigerator will do the trick.
Semi-sweet wines are known for their versatility. You can pair these wines with just about anything, from snacks to meals to desserts. Since you’ll find a wide variety of flavors and sweetness levels in these wines, look at the specific wine you’re interested in to see what it works well with. As always, though, the best way to enjoy a semi-sweet wine is however you like it best, whether that’s at home in your pajamas with a favorite snack or out with friends for a fancy meal.
If you don’t want to drink your semi-sweet wine on its own, you can also make it into a cocktail! Stella Rosa Wines offers a long list of cocktail recipes to help you get started.
Why Choose Stella Rosa
Stella Rosa’s wines are made in the Piedmont region in Italy, and we’re proud to offer them here in the United States. All our wines, including our Italian semi-sweet wines, are made with real fruit. We don’t add sugar, preservatives, or artificial flavors because we trust that the best wine is from great ingredients and great winemaking.
We offer excellent Italian semi-sweet wines — just browse our wines to find your new favorite. Then use our location tool to find a Stella Rosa wine in a store near you.