Is Rose Wine Sweet? (Sweetness Chart Inside)

by Philip Thompson
19 April, 2023

Rosé wines are known across the globe for their pretty pink colour and their floral and fruity flavours.

These wines vary in style and as a result there is a rosé wine for everyone and every palate.

In this post, you'll discover everything you need to know about whether Rosé wine is sweet or dry. We’ll also cover the taste, sweetness of different varieties and comparisons to other wines.

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Is Rosé Wine Sweet?

Depending on the style, Rosé wine can either be bone dry or deliciously sweet.

Take a look at our full chart of Rosé wine varieties and their sweet (or dry) levels below:

This range of sweetness across styles is one of the reasons that Rosé wine is so popular.

Sitting in between white and red wines in terms of flavour profiles means that Rosé wines make great, food-friendly wines and are often paired with slightly trickier foods, such as spicy dishes or meals with lots of elements.

Is Rosé a Dry or a Sweet Wine?

The level of sweetness in a Rosé wine depends on whether the fermentation process was allowed to complete or not.

If the yeast eats all the available sugar and converts it into alcohol then the Rosé wine will be dry, but if the fermentation process is stopped before this can happen there will be some residual sweetness left.

Dry to Sweet	Common Flavours	Variety
Very Dry	Watermelon, Grapefruit, Herbs	Tavel, Grenache
Semi Dry	Cherry, Plum, Smoke	Syrah, Cabernet Sauv
Dry	Melon, Peppercorn, Strawberry	Pinot Noir, Temprallino
Off Dry	Clove, Allspice, Red Fruits	Sangiovese
Semi Sweet	Dried Fruit, Roses, Spices	Sparkling Rose, Montepulciano
Sweet	Raspberry, Strawberry, Melon	White Merlot, White Zinfandel
Very Sweet	Berry, Stone Fruit	Pink Moscato

Rosé wines which haven’t fully fermented and have residual sugar as a result will range from off-dry to fully sweet.

Why is Rosé Sweet?

Not all Rosé wines are sweet wines.

However some Rosé wines, such as White Zinfandel, have residual sugar and are therefore classed as sweet wines.

Rosé wine is sweet when the fermentation process hasn’t completely finished and there is some sugar left.

This is often done by altering the temperature of the fermenting wine to a condition that the yeast cannot survive in.

The yeast will become dormant, but the sugar will remain.

Creating sweet wine is often a decision made by the winemaker and can be influenced by the region they are making wine in or the intended audience for their wine.

Because Rosé wine has lots of acidity and fruity flavours it is a style that lends itself well to having some sweetness, without becoming overly sweet and cloying.

What Does Rosé Taste Like?

Rose Wine Taste Notes

Rosé wine varies in taste depending on what grapes are used and what region those grapes are grown in.

However, some flavour characteristics you can expect from Rosé wines include really fresh acidity like cranberries, tangerines and grapefruit.

Rosé wines are also known for their fruity and floral primary flavours, think:

Roses
Strawberries
Raspberries
Peaches
Cherry blossoms

Some Rosé wines can have lots of saline minerality and others can be sweeter in style, tasting like berry trifle and sweet pomegranates.

Learn about how to perfectly chill Rosé wine here.

What are the Characteristics of Rosé Wine?

Some of the characteristics you can expect from a Rosé wine are as follows:

Rosé Wine Alcohol Levels: Rosé wine tends to be lighter in alcohol, ranging from 9-12% ABV. Some Rosé wines grown in warmer climates may have higher alcohol levels of up to 15% ABV

Rosé Wine Sweetness Levels: Rosé wines can vary from bone dry to super sweet and this depends on the style, region and choices of the winemaker

Rosé Wine Acidity Levels: Rosé wines have lots of lovely, fresh acidity making them fantastic food-friendly wines

Sweet Types of Rosé Wine

White Zinfandel, Sparkling Rose, Pink Moscato

Not all Rosé wines are sweet and a lot of them can be dry. Some styles of Rosé wines that are typically sweet are:

White Zinfandel: A style associated with California, this is a bright ruby, watermelon scented, sweet Rosé wine

Pink Moscato: Made from the Muscat grape, this style of Rosé wine is deliciously soft and sweet

Sparkling Rosé Prosecco: Fizzy and fun, this new sparkling Rosé wine on the block can have some lovely off-dry flavours to balance its fizz

Is Rosé Sweeter than Moscato?

The answer to “Is Rosé sweeter than Moscato?” depends on the Rosé.

Whereas most Moscato wines are sweet, not all Rosé wines have residual sugar and a lot of Rosés can be dry wines with lots of minerality.

Moscato can also be a Rosé, and Pink Moscato is a popular style of Rosé, known for its sweetness and fresh fruit flavours.

So whilst not all Rosé can be sweeter than chilled Moscato, especially the drier French styles, some Rosés, like White Zinfandel and Pink Moscato, can be just as sweet.