SA’s Living Roots a winner in Halliday Wine Companion Awards

A local husband-wife duo has been crowned in a prestigious wine comp – not bad considering all their bottles are under $40.

Living Roots winemakers Colleen and Seb Hardy Picture: Morgan Sette

Proving bigger isn’t always better, an emerging Adelaide Hills boutique winery has won a major prize in the prestigious 2023 Halliday Wine Companion Awards.

Offering cellar door tastings by appointment, the Kuitpo-based Living Roots was named Best New Winery.

It is a huge win for an emerging, smaller winery; Living Roots produces 5000 cases of Australian wine a year and began distributing it to the eastern states in April.

Its owners – husband and wife winemakers Seb and Colleen Hardy, who divide their time between here and the US – named it after their US Living Roots winery and cellar door in Rochester, upstate New York.

Living Roots winemakers Colleen and Seb Hardy at their Kuitpo winery. Picture: Morgan Sette

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The brand’s US wines use grapes from the nearby Finger Lakes wine region and focus on rich whites and sparklings.

Living Roots Australian wines, which are also showcased at the NY cellar door, are mostly vibrant, medium-bodied reds.

“The range of the Australian wines includes some very smart offerings, all scoring between 91 and 96 points this year, and all priced under $40,” wrote James Halliday about Living Roots in the 2023 Halliday Wine Companion.

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Ms Hardy said the win would “put us on more people’s radars”.

Mr Hardy said he and his wife were thrilled with the win.

“We are launching here (in Australia) for the first time and it is also the first time we have submitted wines to Halliday because we have been focusing on sales in the US,” he said.

Ms Hardy agreed: “It’s really exciting because we were so focused on winemaking.”

She said it was “great to take a pause” and be recognised by the industry.

“It will put us on more people’s radars,” she said.

While Living Roots was the only SA winery to win a major gong, the state performed well in the awards overall. More of our wines were short-listed for varietal awards than any other state. And, of those 43 wines – which represented 35 per cent of the finalists – eight won awards, which was also the most for any state.

Those winners included the Fortified Wine of the Year – Seppeltsfield 100-Year-Old Para Vintage Tawny 1922 Barossa Valley – which received a perfect score of 100 points.

See the other winners here.