Question: are sweet wines higher in alcohol?
Answer: Rough rules of thumb say if a wine's alcohol content is 10% or less it will have sweet characteristics. ... Wines in the 11% to 12.5% ABV range are considered 'off-dry' meaning that there is some notable residual sugar. If it's 12.5 percent or higher, the wine will be 'dry' and have little to no perceptible sweetness.