Dynamis Co-Founders Earn Historic Recognition as Global Winemakers of the Year Nominees

Jonesville, NC, September 11, 2026 --(PR.com)-- Dynamis Estate Wines co-founders Matheson Worrell and Katy Kidd have been nominated for Winemaker of the Year in Wine Enthusiast’s 2026 Wine Star Awards, becoming the first North Carolina winemakers nominated for the prestigious global honor.

The recognition gives Dynamis back-to-back Wine Star Award nominations following its 2025 Winery of the Year nod. From day one, the ambition has been unapologetic: establish a vinifera-focused estate in the Brushy Mountains, grow Bordeaux varietals and craft wines built to compete with the world’s great wine regions.

This was never about fitting a regional mold. It was about setting a global standard.

Built to Compete
Worrell and Kidd are first-generation winemakers with no inherited family wine tradition or playbook. At just 25 and 31, they produced a first-vintage Dynamis wine that ultimately earned 95 points.

The estate’s first official Dynamis harvest came in 2019, but the partnership and winemaking experience behind it had already begun. Since then, Worrell and Kidd have continued refining both the wines and the creative tension that drives them.

Worrell brings what the team calls the “chainsaw,” making bold, cut-to-the-core decisions. Kidd brings the “scalpel,” with precision, finesse and attention to detail. Those instincts meet in the final blend.

The goal is simple: make wines that compete with the best, wherever they’re made.

It Begins on the Mountain
At 1,640 feet above sea level in North Carolina’s Brushy Mountains within the Swan Creek AVA, Dynamis has built its philosophy around one belief: higher elevation demands higher standards, and there’s no room for compromise.

The estate’s terroir is shaped by rocky soils, elevation, shifting temperatures, wind and exposure. Those conditions demand precision in the vineyard, but they can also contribute to slower ripening, natural acidity, concentrated fruit, structure and freshness.

The goal isn’t to tame the mountain. It’s to understand it and protect what it produces.

“The mountain does the heavy lifting for us,” Worrell said. “Our job is to listen. We don’t try to force the fruit to become something it’s not. We know the wines we want to compete with, and we’re going to get there by respecting the fruit and making the best wine this mountain can produce.”

Every grape used in Dynamis wines is grown on the estate, keeping the team connected from winter pruning through harvest, fermentation, aging and bottling. The wines are 100% estate-grown, 100% vegan and crafted without unnecessary additives or gimmicks.

It’s a true farm-to-bottle, soil-to-soul approach focused on revealing what the vineyard produces rather than manufacturing it.

“We never cut corners,” Kidd said. “Every decision has been intentional, from what we plant and where we plant it to how we make and release the wines. If the wine isn’t ready, we wait. The standard doesn’t move just because the calendar does.”

Breaking Expectations
Worrell and Kidd are proudly North Carolinian, but they refuse to let regional expectations define what Dynamis can achieve.

Their wines draw inspiration from the great Bordeaux tradition, but the objective isn’t imitation. It’s competition. Cabernet Sauvignon and other Bordeaux varietals are grown and blended with an eye toward depth, structure, balance and longevity, then judged against the same standards as the world’s benchmark wines.

The results back that ambition. Wine Enthusiast awarded 95 points to Dynamis’ 2019 The Mountain First Edition and 2021 Alpha, while James Suckling has awarded multiple Dynamis wines 94 points.

“We’re immensely proud to be from North Carolina,” Worrell said. “But don’t grade these wines on a curve because of where they came from. Put them next to the world’s best. Judge the wine. That’s the standard we’ve set for ourselves.”

Kidd added, “What we’re doing isn’t obvious in this part of the world, and we built it that way on purpose. This isn’t about proving North Carolina can make good wine. It’s about making great wine.”

Dynamis isn’t asking for the wine world’s permission to join the conversation. It’s breaking down old assumptions, brick by brick.

No Shortcuts. No Compromise.

That ambition has shaped Dynamis from the ground up.

From site selection and varietal choices to blending and release decisions, every part of the estate has followed the same uncompromising plan.

The wine sets the timeline. If it needs more time, it gets it.

The Winemaker of the Year nomination recognizes more than a single bottle or vintage. It reflects sustained excellence across quality, innovation, consistency, leadership and influence.

Worrell and Kidd’s vision drives that work. Together with the winemaking and vineyard teams, they translate what the mountain produces into its clearest expression, making the decisions, refinements and blends that ultimately reach the bottle. That vision extends across the estate, from vineyard and cellar to hospitality and Dynamis wine club members, whose support and feedback continue to help shape where Dynamis goes next.

Back-to-back Wine Enthusiast nominations show the world is paying attention.

Dynamis is just getting started.

Higher elevation. Higher standards. No compromise.

The 2026 Wine Star Award winners will be honored at the 27th annual Wine Star Awards gala on January 25, 2027, in San Francisco.

About Dynamis Estate Wines
Founded in 2019, with vines first planted in 2015, Dynamis Estate Wines is a luxury winery on a 1,500-acre estate in North Carolina’s Brushy Mountains. Named for the Greek word meaning “strength” and “potential,” Dynamis crafts wines of power, balance and elegance.

Co-owners Matheson Worrell, Katy Kidd and Joseph Geller bring expertise in winemaking, vineyard management and estate stewardship to produce Cabernet-based reds, Fumé Blancs and limited club bottlings that showcase the mountain’s distinctive terroir.