Sebastian “Seb” Hardy is the winemaker for Living Roots Winery in the Finger Lakes, NY. He and his wife, Colleen, founded Living Roots Wine & Co. in 2016, operating in both of their hometowns—the Finger Lakes in New York and Australia’s Adelaide Hills. A sixth-generation winemaker, Seb grew up in his family’s vineyards in McLaren Vale and the Adelaide Hills. He holds a degree in viticulture and oenology from the University of Adelaide, with a six-month exchange at UC Davis, and has worked vintages in Australia, Austria, France, Italy, and the U.S.
After returning to South Australia in 2013 to work in his family’s wine business, Seb met Colleen and soon launched Living Roots. Today, they split their time between the two regions, producing diverse wines that showcase each area’s strengths, with Seb serving as head winemaker.
Media Inquiries: seb@livingrootswine.com | https://www.livingrootswine.com/
What’s the ONE THING most unique, authentic, & memorable about your brand?
The obvious answer is making wine in both of our hometowns, on opposite sides of the planet. But also our adventurous spirit. We use global exploration as a classroom for continual improvement and experimentation. We’re informed by tradition and industry norms while combining a lot of lesser-known progressive natural techniques.
There were, of course, some initial challenges, especially coming to a new region (and climate) and starting an ambitious project quite young: finding good fruit and working in challenging (but rewarding) regions forced us to make the most of what we could get, while still respecting our low-input ethos. On the business side, we had to learn how to best lead and manage people, as well as understand them (and ourselves). After all, it takes a team to make wine on two continents!
Describe how and what you’d do with your winemaking career or winery business if you were not constrained.
In an ideal world, we would have more resources to pursue products that we’ve been keen to make, that align with our ethos, and also have a lot of potential in the market. Above all, we are working to produce delicious non-alcoholic beverages [the intent behind the “& Co.” in Living Roots Wine & Co.] and more high-quality hybrid wines in different styles.
What is the One Wine most emblematic of your brand and/or winemaking style? Tell us its story.
Our Bone-Dry Riesling. It’s a style we love to make and drink. Made from Finger Lakes grapes, but a little more Aussie in style, being fermented all the way through. It has a riper fruit spectrum thanks to the slower ripening period in the Finger Lakes, as compared to the slightly more austere, limey Rieslings coming out of regions like the Clare Valley in South Australia. We ensure quality by picking relatively low yields from well-balanced vines at optimal ripeness. Once in the winery, we ferment it wild and leave the wine on lees for a good nine months for a more textural style with good fruit intensity. Take a look at my enthusiastic review of the “Bone-Dry” Riesling.
Bonus Question: What are your wholehearted convictions related to the wine business?
It’s a cliche at this point, but we’re committed to improving societal and environmental sustainability through grape growing and winemaking.
To achieve this, we aim for a growth mindset of continual improvement and embracing diversity in all aspects — from people and grape varieties to styles of wine and winemaking. And we think it’s crucial to stay curious along the way.