Dynamis Estate Wines Nominated for Wine Enthusiast’s 2026 Winemaker of the Year
Recognition has a way of pulling attention toward the moment itself, whether it’s the nomination, the headline or the celebration. And make no mistake, we’re deeply honored.
In 2025, Dynamis Estate Wines was nominated for Wine Enthusiast’s Winery of the Year. This year, co-founders and winemakers Matheson Worrell and Katy Kidd were nominated for Winemaker of the Year, making them the first North Carolina winemakers nominated for the honor and giving Dynamis back-to-back Wine Star Award nominations.
That matters, but it isn’t what we’re chasing.
The mountain and the wine have always come first.
Dynamis was built around a clear plan: grow serious vinifera in the Brushy Mountains, farm with intention, make Bordeaux-style wines with discipline and let the vineyard and each vintage determine the pace. The goal has never been to manufacture a story around the wine. It’s been to create the conditions for the wine to speak for itself.That’s why these nominations mean so much to us. They don’t change our direction. They confirm that the intentional path we’ve chosen is working.
The Mountain Still Sets the Pace
At 1,640 feet above sea level in North Carolina’s Brushy Mountains, Dynamis operates in a place that demands attention. Rocky soils, elevation, wind, exposure and shifting temperatures all shape the growing season, and none of them care about production schedules or release calendars.
That reality has always dictated our approach. The vineyard leads; the fruit tells us what it needs and the cellar responds.
Matheson sees the nomination through that lens.
“The recognition means a lot, but it doesn’t change what we do tomorrow,” Worrell said. “The mountain still sets the pace. The fruit still tells us what it needs. Our job is to listen, make hard decisions and never rush something just because we want it to be finished. If anything, this tells us that staying disciplined is working.”
That discipline runs through every stage of the estate. Every grape used in Dynamis wines is grown on the property, keeping the team connected from winter pruning through harvest, fermentation, aging and bottling. The wines are 100% estate-grown, 100% vegan and made without unnecessary additives or gimmicks.
For us, farm to bottle and soil to soul aren’t slogans. They’re operating principles.
Two Winemakers, Different Strengths, One Standard
Matheson and Katy don’t approach winemaking in exactly the same way, and that’s one of the strengths of their partnership.
Matheson brings what the team calls the “chainsaw,” a bold instinct to cut through complexity and get to the core of a decision. Katy brings the “scalpel,” with precision, finesse and the patience to keep refining until the final blend is where it needs to be.
Those differences aren’t something to overcome. They’re part of what makes the partnership work.
Worrell and Kidd brought years of experience, exacting standards and a shared obsession with quality into Dynamis. The first vines were planted in 2015, and the first official Dynamis harvest came in 2019. That first vintage ultimately earned 95 points from Wine Enthusiast, setting what Dynamis says is the highest score in North Carolina wine history. Since then, WE has awarded another Dynamis wine 95 points, with the estate’s recent scores ranking among the highest on the East Coast, while James Suckling has awarded multiple Dynamis wines 94 points.
For Katy, the significance of this nomination is tied less to a single moment than to the consistency behind it.
“What I’m proudest of isn’t one score or one nomination,” Kidd said. “It’s the work behind them. Every vintage teaches us something, and every blend gives us another chance to get sharper. We’ve never believed in forcing a wine into a timeline or a style just because that’s what someone expects. To be recognized two years in a row tells me that the patience and intentionality behind this estate are being seen.”
Recognition Is Confirmation, Not Direction
Back-to-back Wine Star nominations validate something Dynamis has believed from the beginning: an East Coast estate winery can grow vinifera, produce serious Bordeaux-style wines and compete in the same global conversation as benchmark producers anywhere in the world.
But that ambition has never been about imitation.
The wines are inspired by the great traditions of Bordeaux, but the objective is to take what this mountain gives us and push it as far as it can go.
That means refusing shortcuts, making the harder decision when the wine demands it and allowing a wine more time when more time is what it needs.
The wine sets the timeline.
Matheson puts it this way:
“We’re proud of what this recognition says about Dynamis, but we’re even more interested in what comes next,” Worrell said. “We didn’t build this place to chase shiny objects. We built it to make great wine. If awards follow, we’re grateful. But if they ever start driving the decisions, then we’ve lost the point.”
That distinction matters. Awards can validate the work, but they should never dictate it.
This Moment Belongs to the Whole Dynamis Team
While Mat and Katy’s vision drives the winemaking, a vision like this only becomes real because an entire team commits to carrying it forward every day.
That starts with the people tending the mountain and caring for the vineyard, continues with the cellar team working to show each harvest in its best light, and extends to the tasting room ambassadors who give guests their first experience of what Dynamis represents.Our wine club members are part of that story, too. You’ve believed in this vision, supported the wines, shared thoughtful feedback and helped shape where Dynamis goes next. You’ve tasted with us, challenged us, celebrated with us and kept showing up for what we’re building.
You helped bring us to this moment.
That doesn’t diminish what Mat and Katy have accomplished. It makes the milestone more meaningful. Their vision sets the standard, the winemaking and vineyard teams execute it, and the broader Dynamis community helps sustain the ambition behind it.
Katy sees the recognition in much the same way.
“The nomination may have our names on it, but we know exactly how many people stand behind it,” Kidd said. “There are people on this mountain every day caring for the vines, working in the cellar, welcoming guests and believing in what we’re trying to build. Our club members have been part of that journey, too. That support matters more than people probably realize.”
What Two Nominations in Two Years Really Mean
Being nominated for Winery of the Year and then, one year later, seeing Matheson and Katy nominated for Winemaker of the Year is a remarkable progression.
For North Carolina, it’s a first. For Dynamis, it’s confirmation that an intentional, uncompromising approach can resonate far beyond the mountain where the wines begin.
It tells us that patience, discipline and relentless attention to quality are being noticed. More importantly, it reinforces our belief that an East Coast estate winery can make wines with global ambition without abandoning the place, people and philosophy that make those wines possible.
Katy sees the nomination as a milestone, not a finish line.
“The nomination is a milestone, not a destination,” Kidd said. “We still have vineyards to walk, fruit to taste, blends to refine and vintages we haven’t even met yet. That’s the exciting part. There’s still so much ahead of us.”
That may be the clearest way to understand what this moment means.
Two Wine Star nominations in two years are worth celebrating, and we’re proud of them. But tomorrow, we will go back to the mountain. We tend the vines, listen to the fruit, refine the wines and keep doing the work that brought us here.
Recognition tells us we’re on the right path.
The mountain sets the pace. The wine sets the standard. The people of Dynamis make it possible.Higher elevation. Higher standards. No compromise.
