Living Roots is the product of two worlds—literally. Co-founded by Colleen Hardy, a Rochester, NY native with a marketing background, and her husband Seb, a sixth-generation Australian winemaker, the company produces wine in both the Finger Lakes Region of New York and the Adelaide Hills of Australia.
From Two Hemispheres to One Vision for Winemaking
As Hardy recounts, the idea took root not in a boardroom but across oceans, wine books shared with her father, and a well-timed harvest internship in Australia that set the couple on a path to entrepreneurship.
Now nearly a decade in, Living Roots Wine & Company has carved out a unique niche, not only through its dual-hemisphere production but also by combining classic winemaking techniques with modern marketing sensibilities.
Leaning Into Experience and Experiential Marketing
Hardy’s background in market research and brand building has helped them connect with a younger demographic, maintain a direct-to-consumer strategy through a robust wine club, and expand their footprint with a second tasting room in the Finger Lakes.
But Hardy doesn’t shy away from the industry’s current struggles. She candidly addresses the realities of declining wine consumption and the growing competition from alternative beverages.
“It’s scary,” she admits, noting a dip in sales over the last two years. In response, the team is leaning into experiential marketing—reviving wine dinners, enhancing club engagement, and exploring what’s next.
The Next Chapter for Living Roots Wine & Co.
That next chapter for Living Roots may be non-alcoholic beverages. Seb’s original idea to create a line of natural sodas is being revived under the “& Co.” part of the Living Roots name. Hardy sees the non-alcoholic space not as a departure, but a natural extension of the brand’s ethos: craft, care, and connection.
For entrepreneurs in food and beverage—and particularly those in the wine industry—Hardy’s journey is a masterclass in adaptability, family business dynamics, and building a brand that travels as well as it ages. This episode offers a refreshing blend of hard truths, hopeful pivots, and practical insights for anyone navigating today’s evolving consumer landscape.
Transcript
This transcript has been edited from its original form to support readability.
Maureen Ballatori: I’m Maureen Ballatori, and this is Spilled Salt, a podcast on the thrills and spills from the food, beverage, and agriculture industries. Today’s guest is Colleen Hardy, co-founder of Living Roots Wine & Company. Living Roots is a winery with locations in both the Finger Lakes region of New York State and the Adelaide Hills of South Australia. It was founded by husband-and-wife team Seb—or Sebastian—a sixth-generation Australian winemaker, and Colleen, who I’m speaking with today, a Rochester, New York native and marketer.
Much of what we talk about today is how their unique experiences came together to create Living Roots. They source grapes from different vineyards and growers, primarily in the Finger Lakes and Adelaide Hills where their families have vineyards. They also touch on new ventures they’re planning to launch. We dive into current wine industry trends and how those are affecting Living Roots—and the broader industry. Enjoy the conversation.
Maureen: Hey Colleen, how are you?
Colleen Hardy: Good, how are you?
Maureen: Very good, thank you. We’re on opposite ends of the world right now—I’m in upstate New York, and you’re in Australia. It’s late afternoon here, very early there. I’m glad we could make this work.
Colleen: Same here. The time difference can be tricky, but I’m used to calls at all hours. Thanks for having me.
Maureen: Awesome. I always love starting with a bit of background. Can you talk about what you studied in school and your early career leading up to your current work?
Colleen: Absolutely. I went to school for marketing. Like a lot of 17-year-olds, I had no idea what I truly wanted to do. My dad worked in sales and marketing, and I liked the creativity behind it. It seemed broad enough to figure things out as I went—something I could apply across different industries.
By senior year, I still wasn’t entirely sure of the long-term plan, but I landed a marketing research job in Chicago after graduation. My clients were major food manufacturers—big international brands. It was heavy on analytics. I learned a ton, but sitting in a cubicle for nine hours a day wasn’t the future I envisioned.
After a couple of years, I started exploring other industries. Some of my friends worked with alcohol brands—beer, spirits—and their jobs just seemed more fun. Around that same time, I started getting into wine, just casually, drinking it with dinner and wanting to learn more about it.
I began reading wine books and eventually took an online wine course through UC Davis. It was a 10-week intro to wine and winemaking, and I loved it. I’d come home from work excited to watch lectures—it was clear I needed a change.
I was 24, craving an adventure, and totally over spreadsheets. I decided the best way to learn was to go work a harvest. That way, if I ended up back in marketing for a wine brand, I’d at least have that foundation. So I booked it to the Southern Hemisphere and landed in Australia—and that was 11 years ago. I’m still here.
Maureen: And now you split your time, right? A few months in Australia, then most of the year in New York?
Colleen: Correct. We’re always here for harvest—February through April—then head back to New York for the busy summer, harvest, and holiday seasons.
Maureen: Let’s go back to something you mentioned earlier. In your twenties, you started drinking wine more regularly. Today’s 20-somethings aren’t doing that as much. What do you think influenced your interest?
Colleen: Growing up, my parents didn’t have wine at the table nightly, but it was around for big family dinners. As I got older, they drank more wine with meals. My dad and I actually got into it at the same time—we’d pass wine books back and forth. I was also living in Chicago, and some of my friends and dates were really into wine. It became a social thing and a personal interest. It was kind of a convergence of people, time, and place.
Back then, we had fewer drink options—no canned cocktails or hard seltzers. So maybe I would’ve been into those if they’d been around, but I like to think I’d still have found wine. I just love it.
Maureen: It’s funny how those little things shape the trajectory of your life. So what made you want to start your own label?
Colleen: Once I got to Australia, I quickly met my now-husband Seb, a sixth-generation winemaker. He’d studied winemaking and had done harvests all over the world. At the time, he was in sales for his family’s winery but itching to get back into production.
I had just worked my first harvest and was looking for my next step. Seb’s sister helped me land a job at her winery where I did marketing and helped in the cellar during harvest. It was the perfect hybrid role, and I learned so much.
Seb was interested in making wines from lesser-known varieties like Grüner and Teroldego. He’d done that during past vintages and wanted to get back to that. Meanwhile, I was getting homesick.
I love Australia, but it’s so far from my family and friends. Around that same time, my parents bought a property on Keuka Lake. It had Concord and Elvira vines, and they saw potential in it—even if they weren’t totally sure what they’d do with it yet.
So Seb wanted to make wine again, I wanted to be closer to home, and suddenly we had access to this gorgeous property in a great wine region. We thought—what if we started making our own wine, in both places? We’re from two amazing but different wine regions. We didn’t want to give up spending time with either family, and our industry actually allows us to go back and forth. That’s how it all started.
Maureen: Wow, so many pieces aligned all at once. When your family bought the property on Keuka Lake, was it with the intention of building a winery, or did that idea come later?
Colleen: At the time, Seb wasn’t in the picture yet—we had just met, and he wasn’t part of the plan. My dad and I had been getting more into wine together, so I think he saw potential in the property. It was a great deal, and the view of Keuka Lake is incredible. I think it was part retirement project, part dream. There was no real plan, but it was like—this land is special, and maybe we can do something with it. And if not, someone else will.
Maureen: And now there’s a tasting room and vineyard on that property?
Colleen: Yes, and a winery too. At the time, it was just an old barn—beautiful wood but totally falling apart. So in 2016, after Seb and I had been back in the Finger Lakes, we started Living Roots. We pulled out the Concord vines and planted vinifera: Riesling, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Cab Franc. Later, we added Pinot Gris and Pinot Meunier. We also source grapes from other growers in the region and from Seb’s family in the Adelaide Hills.
Maureen: That’s such a powerful combo—wine made with grapes from both sides of your family. What makes Living Roots different?
Colleen: For one, we’re producing wine in two countries—on a relatively small scale—with Seb as the head winemaker. Most international brands doing that are massive and have entire teams on both continents. But we’re hands-on. Same people, same vision, making wine in two very different regions.
We now have great teams in both places, including winemakers. Our Finger Lakes operation is more intensive—whites, sparkling wines—so it needs more equipment and staff. In Australia, it’s mostly reds, and the setup is simpler. But we still go back and forth and stay involved in both locations.
Stylistically, our wines aim for balance—minimal intervention, but clean and classic. We do wild ferments, no filtering or fining, and most wines are bone dry. We do add sulfur, which is controversial in the natural wine world, but that’s it. Our goal is for people to enjoy the wine regardless of how deep into the wine world they are. If you’re a casual drinker or a natural wine fan, we want our wines to appeal either way.
Maureen: I love that. And how has your marketing background helped with the growth of Living Roots?
Colleen: It’s been huge. We launched our first wines in 2017 with the opening of our Rochester location, which is an urban winery. That helped us reach more people, especially younger drinkers, in a more relaxed setting.
At the time, a lot of wineries weren’t investing much in social media. I think we stood out by being active and consistent online. Now, tons of wineries are doing great work with marketing—but back then, it gave us a bit of an edge.
I still run our social media, and while it may not be the most efficient setup, I enjoy it. I know what’s going on at both locations and can share authentic updates. Seb reviews all the captions—I always want his sign-off on anything technical. It might be scrappy, but it works.
Maureen: We manage social media for a lot of clients, and that “boots on the ground” element is always a challenge. There’s just nothing like the owner snapping a photo of the sunset at the tasting room and posting it.
Colleen: Totally. I take a million pictures, but then they sit in my camera roll forever. Real-time posting is a big goal for me this year.
Maureen: I get it. So where are your current tasting rooms? You’ve got the urban winery in Rochester, the Finger Lakes tasting room, and one in Australia too?
Colleen: Sort of. I’m sitting in the Australia tasting room right now. It’s on my in-laws’ vineyard, and we do tastings by appointment only. It’s not a full operation like the others. Our winemaker here, Lucas, handles appointments based on availability.
Back in New York, both our Rochester and Finger Lakes locations are open six to seven days a week, depending on the season. They’re more resource-intensive but also more central to our business.
Maureen: Let’s talk about the wine industry right now. Consumption is down across the board. As someone with a background in marketing and analytics, what’s your take on the current trends?
Colleen: Honestly? It’s scary. I won’t sugarcoat it—we’re feeling it too. Our sales rebounded a bit in 2022 after the initial COVID dip, but 2023 and 2024 have been down. That’s stressful.
We’re brainstorming with the team. We’re bringing back things like wine dinners, private tastings, and more programming to engage our loyal customers. Our wine club has been a lifeline. Those members are critical to our success, and we’re looking at ways to grow that.
We’re doing some soul searching—trying to figure out how to reach new customers without alienating our base. The core wine-loving crowd is still drinking, but the casual drinkers are definitely buying less. That’s the big question: how do we engage them?
Maureen: I think it’s great that you’re brainstorming. Sometimes the industry sees a downturn and businesses just wait it out, but there’s a point where waiting becomes risky. I’ve heard from other winery owners in the Finger Lakes who are seeing similar patterns. Even at the Bev New York conference, Cornell shared national data showing the same thing. So it’s about asking, how do we pivot? How do we tell a different story and bring something fresh to the table?
Colleen: Exactly. And that’s part of why we opened the Finger Lakes location. It was a big investment and a lot of work—new building, new team—but we weren’t generating enough revenue in Rochester alone to sustain the business long-term.
Rochester is great for regulars, and people come in for a glass and a bite, but they’re often not there to buy bottles or cases. It’s more of a social stop. We realized that to grow bottle sales and the wine club, we needed to be in a destination wine region where people are coming specifically to taste and buy.
Maureen: Right—and in the Finger Lakes, people are showing up ready to buy bottles and bring them home. That’s a key difference.
Colleen: Exactly. And we’re seeing that—guests walking out with boxes of wine, which doesn’t happen much in Rochester. But it comes with its own set of challenges—more overhead, more staffing, more logistics. Still, it’s helping us tap into that agritourism market and expand our reach.
Maureen: That’s smart. It’s all about doubling down on what’s working. Even though wine consumption is trending downward, there’s still space to stand out if you’re doing something meaningful. And part of that is thinking about how to keep customers on-site longer. Are you doing anything different with food offerings in the Finger Lakes?
Colleen: Not really. The menu is almost identical in both locations. We offer a charcuterie board and a few snack options—simple but effective. One of our biggest hits is this Australian marinated cheese. Some people come just for that!
We designed the Keuka Lake building to maximize the view, and it’s really working. We have a large patio, and people love to just hang out, sip wine, and enjoy the scenery. There’s a little walk-up window too, so it’s easy for people to order another glass without leaving their table. We keep the vibe laid back—yes, we’re proud of the wines, but we want people to relax and have fun.
Maureen: That’s such a good attitude. Okay, let’s talk about your highs and lows. Give me one of each from your career.
Colleen: Oh man, that’s tough. A high point would definitely be getting through the first year at Keuka. It was incredibly hard—I was completely burnt out—but we made it through, and we’re stronger for it. As a business, and personally, it felt like a huge accomplishment.
Another high was when our first shipment from Australia arrived in Rochester. This was before we even opened—early 2017. We offloaded the container right on University Ave. It was chaotic, but also a really emotional moment. These were the wines we made with Seb’s family, and now they are here in my hometown. That was the moment where it all felt real.
Maureen: For context, for anyone unfamiliar, University Ave is where the urban winery is located in downtown Rochester.
Colleen: Right! So imagine us blocking traffic, trying to get this wine off the truck. But it was special. Those first wines represented so much—family, travel, risk, hard work. It was a milestone.
As for a low point—probably the challenges of opening Keuka. We had issues with water supply since we’re on a well, and on one busy holiday weekend, we literally ran out of water. Bathrooms weren’t working, we couldn’t rinse glasses—it was chaos. The team looked to me like, “What do we do?” and I had no idea. We were exhausted, running on fumes, and still figuring it all out. But we got through it.
Maureen: It reminds me of parenting. When you’re sent home from the hospital with a newborn, and you’re like, “I’m supposed to know how to keep this alive?” I’ve had plenty of moments in my business where I felt the same—people looking to you for answers and you’re like, “Cool, I’ll just make something up that sounds confident.” Even not making a decision is a decision, you know?
Colleen: Totally. And it’s funny to look back and realize how far you’ve come. I used to cry over a bad review—like, call-my-mom sobbing. Now, I still take them seriously, but I’ve got more perspective. I ask, is the feedback valid? What can we improve? But I don’t spiral anymore.
Maureen: Same. I cry a lot less at work now. But I remember those early moments vividly.
Colleen: Yeah, I think those highs and lows are what shape you. It takes both to grow.
Maureen: So, last question. Tell me something you’re excited about—either for Living Roots or the wine industry in general.
Colleen: Well, something I’m really excited about is finally launching a non-alcoholic product. Funny enough, when Seb and I first met, he was actually more interested in starting a natural soda company than getting back into wine.
So, technically, when we started Living Roots, that idea was still on the table. That’s why we named it Living Roots Wine & Co.—the “& Co.” was meant to represent non-wine products, particularly non-alcoholic ones. Seb had been experimenting with recipes and ingredients. This was over a decade ago, way before there was much happening in the non-alc space.
Once we met and my family had just bought the vineyard, the wine side took off first—it felt like the more obvious place to start, especially with Seb’s background. But the idea for the non-alcoholic beverages never really left.
Now, we’re finally making it a priority this year. We would’ve loved to be first to market, but even now, I don’t think the demand has peaked. People want interesting, drier, natural non-alcoholic drinks. Not just juice in fancy packaging—something with complexity and intention.
Maureen: I totally agree. I was just at an agritourism conference, and the topic came up constantly—today’s consumers want something sophisticated and adult to sip on, even if it’s not alcoholic.
Colleen: Yes, exactly. And we see that at the winery too. We get asked all the time—people who are driving, pregnant, not drinking for whatever reason. Right now, we offer a local grape juice and some iced teas, but to have our own product, something a little more refined—that’s exciting.
And I think it’s going to complement Living Roots really well. It’s still rooted in craftsmanship, and it’ll give people more options when they visit. So yeah, fingers crossed we pull it off!
Maureen: Of course you will! And I think you’re still entering at a great time. It’s a growing market, but there’s still plenty of room for fresh, thoughtful brands. And the fact that it’s coming from a winery adds even more credibility and uniqueness.
Colleen: Thank you. We’re excited. It’s been a long time coming.
Maureen: Well, thank you so much for joining me today, Colleen. This was awesome. I really appreciate your honesty and transparency. It’s so refreshing to hear the real story—not just the highlight reel.
Colleen: Thanks for having me. I’ve had my coffee now, I’m wide awake, and ready to start my Saturday!