You could say he's high on his business.

• Position: Carolina Wine Co. owner Chrish Peel

Snobs might sniff at the idea of fine wine at a pig picking. Not Chrish Peel, owner of year-old Carolina Wine Co. in Cary. "Sauvignon blanc's pretty good. Most whites, really, except chardonnay, which kind of tastes hot and alcoholic with spicy stuff."

Peel, 33, wants no part of the lifted-pinky crowd. "I'm embarrassed to be called a connoisseur. It makes me cringe." He sells hard-to-find wines that he delivers in person. Some go for as much as $160.

His pedigree could breed a bit of snootiness. Several branches of his family tree in Martin County sprouted lawyers and judges. He graduated from Williamston High as a National Merit Scholar and Phi Beta Kappa from UNC Chapel Hill. After getting a master's from Oxford and a law degree from Stanford, he defended defense contractors in Washington. He returned home when his father fell ill and started Carolina Wine last October. He's licensed, but not inclined, to practice law in North Carolina.

Beneath his tiny office, his 850-square-foot basement stays a steady 58 degrees. Palettes stand shoulder high to his 6-foot-5 frame. He has about $75,000 worth of 50 varieties of wine. Three-quarters are European; all the domestics are from out-of-state. "We haven't found that North Carolina wines kind of fit in," he says.

Peel contends that most of the expensive wine imbibed by Tar Heel connoisseurs comes from out-of-state...