Lyndon Smith
Farming and winemaking run in Lyndon’s blood. He founded a natural wine distribution company, Sour Grapes, in 2009 but left the wine business to start a small apple orchard and blueberry farm in Leicester, North Carolina. He then joined his family running Cedar Grove Blueberry Farm in central North Carolina where Botanist and Barrel’s farmhouse Cidery & Winery was launched in 2017. Lyndon continues to learn about creative ways to use forgotten, foraged, and ugly fruits to make beautiful adult beverages. In 2019 he launched North Carolina’s first festival dedicated to wild and spontaneous food and beverages called “Funk Down on the Farm.” He is the President of the North Carolina Cider Association and is a certified cider professional through the American Cider Association. Lyndon loves supporting local farms, using native fruits, and pushing boundaries with wild and spontaneous yeasts. Lyndon is a founder and COO of Botanist and Barrel Cider & Winery and is also the winemaker at DeFi Wines along with his wife, Amie Fields. Find him on Instragram @botanistandbarrel and @spontaneousfarmer.
Ten Things I Can’t Do Without
- Family
- Digging in the dirt
- Aioli
- Foraging
- Mountains
- Campfires with the kids
- Cider apples
- Amateur sports, especially basketball
- Short getaways
- Small Beer