Great Article on Darrell Corti - Corti Brothers in Sacramento

While Tom Hill recuperates from knee surgery, I guess someone else has to step in and post some of these

If you’re already familiar with Darrell, this will be a fun article to read as, to me, it captures his personality well.

For those of you not familiar with this gem of a man, it’s a great article to understand who Darrell is and how he operates - and his true importance to the food and wine industries here in the US.

If you are in the area, definitely plan on stopping by seeing if he is in - and he almost always is - and ask his advice on ANYTHING - he’ll most likely offer a number of suggestions - and LOTS of stories

Thanks for the article Larry. I love that store. It’s tough to get out of there without grabbing a bunch of stuff you’ve never heard of that looks delicious. The produce section isn’t much but so many different pastas, tinned fish, wines and everything else you can think of make up for it.

Ahhhh…I’m here, Larry, just not moving around very fast. Heapa pain.
But it is a great article and captures the essence of the Darrell we all know & love.
But his “I read the InterNet” is a shocking confession from someone who doesn’t even own a cell phone!!

Fortunate enough to live 5 minutes away from Corti Bros. There is always something interesting in the wine department. How many grocery stores stock Sandlands and have Tempier rose sitting on the shelf? I can’t even walk in to buy coffee without grabbing a bottle of something interesting.

I have never had the good fortune to meet Darrell, but he sounds like a character.

k
Well, Brian…Darrell is very approachable. Ask Nate to call him down to chat a bit. Ask for a couple of recs. He explore what you like afore he suggests. Or just ask for something odd-ball. Plenty of those there.
Tom

Thanks Tom! I’ll do that!

Brian,

I would avoid Darrell at all costs unless you have a lot of money to spend. He is hard to resist. But if you do meet him, make sure he talks you into some of our Uvaggio wines. He is our best customer.

Tom,
What happened…get stabbed in the knee with a saber??

I stopped in at the store for the first time today. Luckily for my pocketbook I had to get on the road to Tahoe pretty quickly.

Nope, Mel. Knee replacement surgery. Hurts like hell.
Tom

Well, Brian…tell him you like the same wines as TomHill. You’ll get some really weird $hit!!
Tom

I also love that store!

I always leave with essential stuff that I didn’t realize was essential until I saw it!

The man has pretty tough standards. I followed up on a sample bottle of viognier that I’d left for him to try, and he told me, by way of rejection, that the only varietally correct viognier he’d ever had was a 1963 Ch. Grillet. He’s someone whose opinion I take seriously, and placing something in his shop feels like a real victory.
On the other hand, he was really generous with his time when I called him looking for leads for cuttings of an obscure Italian variety. An hour later, I had 3 pages of scribbled notes of his suggestions for even more obscure varieties that he thought could shine in my soils and climate.

But, Stewart…he had your Viognier on the shelf where I bought a btl a month ago.
I thought it rather nice…in a non-DollyParton style.
Tom

Tom
Have you tried Vicodin and Single malt??

That’s what he calls a palate cleanser.

I think he keep his single malts in an unplugged freezer in his back yard.

Nope, Mel. Don’t think I wanna go there…sounds pretty lethal.
Tom

I agree. I consider it a victory that he has a few Briceland offerings as well…

Tom
Feel better quickly!
Just kidding about the vicodin

The rejection came on an earlier vintage. And, thanks … whatever my wines’ faults may be, overly flamboyant wiggery has not been a consistent complaint.