Living Roots, Red Rizza, 2022

Here's the wild card. "Rizza" is Aussie slang for Riesling, a nod to Seb Hardy's roots, and this genre-bending red is exactly that: Riesling juice fermented on Cabernet Franc skins left over from the rose press, then aged in used oak with no added sulfites. The Riesling keeps its citrus precision and racy acidity while the Cab Franc skins lend rose petal, cherry depth, and a light chalky grip. The result is a chillable, low-intervention red unlike anything else on the shelf. Serve it cold and let the questions begin. Adventure in a bottle from one of the Finger Lakes' most fearless projects.