Talking wine and food with America’s most revered grocer, it is hard to keep up. A spry 81, Darrell Corti has an athletically agile mind. His knowledge is encyclopedic. His curiosity, voracious. Want to know the profile of an obscure olive cultivar or rare European cheese? Or perhaps about the flavors and shelf price of the first Conterno Barolo Monfortino bottling (1968) he helped bring to America? Darrell will tell you.

From his sprawling Corti Brothers vintage family grocery in Sacramento, Calif., Corti has helped shape the wine landscape for 60 years: bottling wine on both sides of the Atlantic, guiding generations of winemakers and aiding in the revival of California Zinfandel.