Local Italian Wines

Sciacchetrá is a dessert ( since you stated sweet) wine found in the Cinque Terre. I think that is the only sweet wine I have ever tasted in Italy. Perhaps other posters can add some ideas.

Vin Santo is Tuscan but a wonderful dessert wine that is often used for dunking small biscotti. I know a friend who drank it in Venice. I suspect you can find it most everywhere in Italy.

You sound like someone who would enjoy a limoncello. It's not a wine, but a lemon liqueur enjoyed usually as an after dinner treat. Originally from southern Italy, it's now found in most parts of Italy.

When we've been in Italy, we have discovered some delights simply by asking for the house wine.

Try local wines in restaurants. They don't need to be very spendy. When you find one you like, head into a grocery store and look for it there. Last trip I found wines I really liked, for $5 in the grocery store (much more on the dinner menu, of course).

Ask for "dolce" (sweet in Italian). Most, but not all, Italian wines tend to be dry. If you like sparkling wines, you might try Prosecco or Moscato.

Do you literally mean sweet, as in dessert wine? If so, you might try a passito, origin in Umbria and Tuscany, but found many places.

Since you like sweet wine, be sure to try Vin Santo, which is a dessert wine typically served with biscotti.

I heard a cooking show on NPR Saturday and they discussed the difference in attitude regarding wines between the US and Italy. They described Americans as seeing wine as a philosophy while Italians see it as a beverage. The average Italian spends 8-10 Euro on a bottle of wine. They tend to "marry" to a brand and drink that brand almost exclusively. Paying 30-40 Euro for a bottle is a rare occurrence. As someone mentioned, most table wines are very drinkable.

Here's a simple Italian wine primer. While you are there, be brave and branch out. There's a difference between sipping wines and dinner wines. Sweet or semi-sweet wines can be a horrible choice with certain dishes. There's nothing like a Chianti Classico or Super Tuscan with a nice steak. Here's a nifity Italian wine and food pairing chart.

If you like a before dinner drink, you might want to try a Spritz. It contains Aperol (or Campari - your choice) chilled Prosecco or sparkling wine, chilled sparkling mineral water or club soda, and an orange slice or twist. We always have them in Venice and sometimes in Rome.

In Venice, this place is great.
https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g187870-d11725743-r485219498-Nave_de_Oro-Venice_Veneto.html
Very cheap, approx. 2-3 euros for 1.5 liters, filled in a plastic bottle. Owner (?) is very helpful and funny.

Just a word of caution since it is hard to know what you mean by "sweet" wine. A dessert wine as noted by others here will be SWEET. They are intended for sipping with desserts or sometimes are the dessert themselves. But a "sweet" wine classification for a standard wine is very different and more subtle. Those are not as common in Italy as northern Europe, but some pinot grigios are at least semi-sweet and certainly some of the sparkling wines.

House wines will generally be what the region offers. So if you want something more specific, say a sweet or semi-sweet white or a lighter-bodied red, you will need to ask for it. The waiters will be very competent to assist you if you can explain what you want.

What sweet wines to you drink in the US - brand? grape? That might help give better responses since Italy is primarily known for it reds and dryer wines. Sweet, by itself, is not very descriptive. And some people refer to fruity wines as sweet wines but there is a difference since sweet wines are designed to be sweet and fruity wines tend to be more natural.