How We Got Here
Picture it — a Southern afternoon. Sun on your face, laughter spilling across the porch, plates of comfort food, and glasses raised in good company. That’s the South we love. But something was missing. The wines on the table didn’t taste like home.
We’re two families tied by food, laughter, and a stubborn belief that wine should tell a story about where it’s from. So we started making our own — wines that taste like our South. Fresh, real, born of local fruit and shared moments.
Turns out, we weren’t the only ones thirsty for that. What began as a dream became a gathering place for friends, neighbors, and anyone who believes in flavor that speaks of land and people.
Botanist & Barrel isn’t just a winery. It’s a celebration of family, community, and the wild generosity of the South. Come raise a glass with us and taste what home feels like.
THE TEAM
Kether Smith
Partner + Head Cidermaker
Kether is intrigued by fermented foods and drinks. When she first learned about Kombucha, which was described to her as mushroom tea, she thought, how disgusting. Moving past her initial hesitation, she tasted it, and had to make it herself. And that’s pretty much where her fermentation experiments began. She moved on to fermenting vegetables, and helping her husband brew beer. After purchasing the blueberry patch, she started learning about wine and cider making. What better way to preserve the summer than bottling it? To expand her knowledge she ventured to the finger lakes region of NY, a viticulural area and received a cider certificate from Cornell University. Now she’s happy to pour you a taste on the farm or at a market.
Find her on Instagram @pommeparty
Deric McGuffey
Partner + Specialty Cidermaker
Deric grew up in rural Georgia where farming is in the blood. After he earned an art degree, he found himself in a professional kitchen and began to merge his love of art with his love of cooking. Deric met Kether in culinary school where they competed on a culinary team and won numerous medals on their way to the national “final four” competition. Upon graduation they went to Atlanta to hone their culinary skills. At Canoe Restaurant in Atlanta Deric found his passion for pastry, where he lets his creativity run wild. He’s a cool dad who loves guiding his active boys on the ins and outs of skateboarding. At present he is the pastry mastermind at G2B Restaurant in Durham, where he creates magnificent sweet finales for folks out for a fine dining experience. If he is not in the kitchen, you may find him at the farm, kicking back, visioning his next creation, enjoying the outdoors, or picking berries with his boys.
Find him on Instagram @dericmcguffey
Amie Fields
Partner + Sales Director
Is a co-founder and Director of Sales and Brand Development at Botanist and Barrel in North Carolina. After a lifelong career in wine, sourcing, importing and distributing, Amie realized that the winemakers have all the fun. She joined her husband and sister- in- law with the dream to build something special from the ground up and in 2017 Botanist and Barrel was born. She oversees distribution for Botanist and Barrel in NC, SC, GA, CO, MA and CA. Amie is one of a select few of people awarded the Pommelier certification from the ACA’s certified cider program. She is a certified level 1 sommelier through the Court of Master Sommeliers and has been a judge at the Great Lakes International Wine and Perry competition and the Virginia Governor’s Cup. Amie’s expertise in tasting, evaluating and finding balance is invaluable in creating new and exciting ciders. At Botanist and Barrel she loves focusing on minimal intervention cider-making - nothing added and nothing taken away - in order to showcase a living product’s terroir. She is tirelessly working on changing the way people think about fruit wine and cider. Farm, Fruit, Ferment ya’ll!
Find her on Instagram @
Lyndon Smith
Partner + Farmer
Farming and fermentation run deep in Lyndon Smith’s blood. After growing up foraging on his grandparents’ farm, he co-founded several startups and spent a decade working in archival film. He eventually returned to his roots managing spray free apple orchards and his family’s blueberry farm alongside his sister Kether (also a UNC A grad). In 2017, he co-founded Botanist & Barrel and DeFi Wine to reimagine Southern cider and wine through sustainability, flavor, and place. His work champions native fruit, wild fermentation, and waste free production, using the whole farm and the whole fruit with as little outside input as possible. From fermenting with native yeasts to turning pomace into spritzers and winery by-products into compost, his approach blends creativity with conservation. In 2024, Wine Enthusiast named him to the Future 40 List for his advocacy of muscadine wine, support of local farms, and passion for pushing boundaries. Whether in the orchard, cellar, or community, Lyndon continues to lead a growing movement of low intervention winemakers focused on a radical respect for the earth.
Find him on Instagram @drywinemaker
Bailey Stoffregen
Head Winemaker + Cidermaker
Moving to North Carolina from rural southwest Wisconsin, Bailey has always loved working within the local agriculture, food, and wine scene. Growing up on a small family vineyard, she’s had a hand in winemaking since she was a little kid. She graduated from University of Wisconsin-Stout with a bachelor’s degree in Food Science & Technology with an emphasis in chemistry. Her love of food and wine has taken her on many adventures over the years. She’s been fortunate to, study food and wine pairings in France, work a harvest season at Soter Winery in Willamette Valley Oregon, manage family owned and operated butcher shops, coordinate production and coffee roasting at Wonderstate Coffee. Now she’s on a natural cider and winemaking journey at Botanist & Barrel. During the week you’ll find her hard at work in production at the cidery, with hands in some sort of fruit goop. Bailey is a certified cider professional through the ACA, quickly growing into her role as cidermaker, and loving every sip of it.
Find her on Instagram @baileyrehbein