Raised in small-town Mississippi, Hedges was forever changed when he studied in Buenos Aires. “I fell in love with Argentine wine, but when I got home, I couldn’t find it anywhere,” says Hedges. After earning an MBA from Ole Miss, he founded Vino del Sol, a terroir-driven portfolio of wine from Argentina. His venture gained a boost by winning the Wake Forest Elevator Competition, a Shark Tank-style pitch delivered in an actual elevator. Now selling wine in all 50 states, Hedges also distributes estate-grown wines from California and Chile, as well as sakĂ© from Japan. He also collaborates on developing retailer-exclusive brands.