Two Hemispheres, One Tiny Rochester Room
Neighborhood of the Arts · Rochester · Winery · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed April 18, 2026
Wingman Metrics
Walking into a working urban winery in Rochester's arts district is already unexpected — walking into one where the co-owners split their winemaking between the Finger Lakes and South Australia's Adelaide Hills is genuinely surprising. The list is tight, maybe 20-40 wines, but every bottle has a reason to be here. This isn't someone else's distribution catalog; it's their own stuff.
Living Roots is doing something legitimately unusual: a dual-hemisphere winemaking project where the wines on your glass list are the same wines they make themselves, not a grab-bag of wholesale pickups. Finger Lakes Riesling anchors the New York side — and in a region that produces some of the best Riesling in North America, that's a serious card to play. The Adelaide Hills Shiraz brings a cooler-climate Australian perspective that's miles from the jammy Barossa stereotypes most people expect. The skin-contact white signals that someone here has actual opinions about wine, not just a license to pour it.
With 10-20 by-the-glass options in the $10-$18 range and a house-produced list, the BTG program is essentially a guided tour of what Living Roots makes. That's a feature, not a bug — you're tasting the winemaker's current work, not last year's surplus. Rotation likely tracks with what's in season or freshly bottled, so the list can shift.
Living Roots Finger Lakes Riesling — $14
Finger Lakes Riesling at a fair urban winery pour price is hard to beat. You're getting a wine with genuine terroir and a winemaker who cares, not a grocery-store pour dressed up with a menu description.
Living Roots Skin-Contact White
Most people scan past skin-contact and order the Riesling. Don't. This is the wine that tells you what Living Roots actually thinks about winemaking — orange-adjacent, textured, and the kind of thing you won't find at the restaurant down the block.
Living Roots Adelaide Hills Shiraz
Not a bad wine, but if you're sitting in Rochester with access to Finger Lakes Riesling and a skin-contact white right in front of you, ordering the Australian Shiraz is a missed opportunity. Save it for a return visit when you've done your homework.
Living Roots Finger Lakes Riesling + Charcuterie board
Finger Lakes Riesling — typically off-dry with bright acidity and stone fruit — cuts through cured meat fat and holds up to salty, funky cheese without flinching. Classic winery tasting room logic that actually works.
🎲 The Bottom Line
Living Roots is a Wild Card in the best possible sense: a dual-hemisphere winemaking project operating out of Rochester's arts district, pouring its own bottles at honest prices with people who know what's in the glass. If you're anywhere near the Neighborhood of the Arts and you care even a little about wine, this is the stop.
Village Gate / NOTA · Rochester · Farm-to-Table / New American
Lento isn't trying to be a wine destination, but its list is thoughtful enough that it kind of becomes one by accident — especially if you care about Finger Lakes wines in their natural habitat. Send your friends here, let them order the Duck Confit, and point them toward the Cab Franc.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Pittsford · Rochester · Refined Seasonal American with Wood-Fired Pizzas
jojo Pittsford is the kind of wine program that makes you want to cancel your dinner reservation somewhere else. For a bistro in suburban Rochester, this list is genuinely exciting — send your wine-curious friends here without hesitation.
Deep & Eclectic
Fair
Varietal Specific
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Occasional
Proper
East Avenue / Winton · Rochester · Traditional Italian
Ristorante Lucano is a reliable Italian dinner with a wine list that doesn't embarrass itself — Italy-focused, anchored by classics, a bit overpriced but not offensively so. Send a friend here for a date night with the instruction to order the Barolo and not overthink it.
Plays It Safe
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Pittsford Plaza · Rochester · Sushi and Japanese-inspired contemporary dining
Next Door is a Wild Card in the best sense: a grocery chain's restaurant with genuine wine ambition and a beverage program that earns more than a dismissive eye-roll. The markups will sting and the by-the-glass program needs more visibility, but the bones are here — and the wine pairing dinners featuring Château d'Yquem prove someone in the building actually cares.
Solid Range
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Occasional
Acceptable
Corn Hill · Rochester · Wine Bar / New American
Flight is exactly what Rochester needed and didn't know it had — a real wine program in an unexpected zip code, with Wednesday half-price bottles that make an already fair list even easier to love. Send your wine-curious friends here before it gets too crowded to get a table.
Solid Range
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Active Program
Acceptable
Neighborhood of the Arts · Rochester · Urban winery tasting room with small plates and charcuterie
Living Roots is one of Rochester's more original wine experiences — a dual-continent estate poured by people who actually know what they're talking about, at prices that don't punish curiosity. If you want a broad global list, go somewhere else; if you want a focused, well-executed tasting room with a genuine story, this is your spot.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Seasonal Rotation
Proper
Lookout Valley · Chattanooga · Winery
DeBarge is the Wild Card Chattanooga deserves — a real working winery in the city's backyard, making honest wine at honest prices, staffed by people who actually care what's in the glass. If you want a Napa blockbuster, go somewhere else; if you want to drink something made twenty minutes from where you're sitting, this is your stop.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Set & Forget
Proper
Anthony · El Paso · Winery
La Viña is a road trip, not a dinner plan — but if you're anywhere near El Paso and you care about American wine history or just want to drink Dolcetto grown in the desert, it absolutely earns the detour. The list is wider and more ambitious than you'd expect, and that alone makes it worth the drive.
Surprising Depth
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Seasonal Rotation
Acceptable
Pelzer · Greenville · Winery
City Scape is a Wild Card worth making the drive for: zero markup over retail, a sommelier on-site, and the novelty of drinking a genuine Greenville County wine in Greenville County. Don't come expecting a classic restaurant wine list — come expecting something you can't get anywhere else.
Small but Thoughtful
Steal
Basic Stemmed
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Set & Forget
Proper
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