Wine Merchant Darrell Corti No Longer Sells Wines Over 14.5% Alcohol
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Will wineries listen to Darrell? "With the number of wines that are around, it’s not very difficult to find wines that will fit into a category. … But it’s become more difficult to find wines that are balanced, tasty and are not high in alcohol." |
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In a rather large corner of Corti Brothers market in Sacramento, California is the wine section. It is filled with lots of selections with an emphasis on Italian wines. The three men arranging the cases and hand-selling the wine are clad in blue smocks so as to avoid soiling their clothes from those same boxes. It is a scene from another time with a decided emphasis on a European sensibility.
In the center of the section, one can usually find Darrell Corti, the current owner of the store that has been run by his family for the last 50 years. It also could be said that he is a man from another era. He doesn't own a cell phone and he has no idea how computers work. He answers immediately -- and proudly -- in the affirmative to the query: Are you a Luddite?
Actually, Corti is many things. He's considered by many to be the foremost authority in California on all things about Italian wine and food. And he's also steadfast and resolute about how he likes those wines. He likes them tasty and balanced, and he wants to drink them with food. And he is adamant about wines that he believes are way too high in alcohol.
So, he's trying to do something about it. He's ordered his staff to not taste wines whose stated alcohol levels are over 14.5 percent; and he will not put said wines on his shelves and sell them.
Corti recently returned from a trip to southern Italy. While he was there, the story of his low-alcohol stand broke and e-mails and faxes began pouring in to the Sacramento store. They were dutifully printed out by Corti's staff for him to read.
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"At our store, after a tasting on the 29th of March, I put on top of the Zinfandel section, 'This is the last tasting Corti Brothers will do for over 14.5 percent Zinfandels. These wines will no longer be sold at Corti Brothers. There will be no exceptions,'" Corti said in a recent interview with the article's authors.
"I did it after we tasted Zinfandels that were 14.6, 15.1, 15.6, 15.2, 15.1, and 17 percent alcohol. My idea of a really good bottle of wine," continued Corti "is that two people finish the bottle and wish there was just a little bit more. Some of these wines with high levels of alcohol -- you can't finish the bottle. You don't want to finish the bottle.
"I just got back from southern Italy," Corti went on. "Some of the wines I had there were 11, 12 percent, and they were absolutely delicious. I'm not out to tilt at windmills but (British wine writer) Jancis Robinson said she likes wines for their 'refreshing quality.' Wines that are over 14 percent alcohol aren't particularly refreshing.
"We've had faxes that say 'Bravo!' Some people say, 'Keep it up.' Some say this is foolish. But I can sell what I want to sell, can't I? Only once, a customer came in asking for a big Zinfandel. I said, 'We don't have wines like that.'
"And then there are people like (wine critic Robert) Parker, who really put their foot in it. He wrote (on his Web site's message board) that he had bought an imperial of Corti Bros Zinfandel 1976 from Amador County that was bottled for the store that was more than 15 percent alcohol. (But) he couldn't have: there was no Corti Brothers '76. The only time we bottled an imperial was in 1974 and those were 13.9 according to the label.
"We don't pay much attention to what Parker or the Wine Spectator says. He's the one who's caused all of this problem. (Here) you have someone who actually creates the market, but in the old days it used to be the king of France who created the market for wines. When he gives a wine 100 points, or a 98, 95, or 93 … other wineries are going to imitate them. Wineries are noted for following the trend so they can sell wines."
"What is going to happen then? Will styles begin to change?" Asked Alan Goldfarb, author of the original article.
"I would love to see a trend downward. … But it's like crying in the wilderness," replied Corti.
| Source: Extract from an article published by AppellationAmerica.com PLEASE NOTE: Italics by WineCountry.IT • Read the all Article |
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