The most interesting man in the world does not, in fact, drink Dos Equis—it’s more like a 1968 vintage Zinfandel that he personally developed and sells inside his grocery store in Sacramento, California. The most interesting man in the world is also possibly someone you’ve never heard of. Darrell Corti, in his own estimation, is just a humble grocer and the head of Corti Brothers market in Sacramento, which has open since 1947 (and in its current location since 1970.) But anyone in the food and wine world can tell you that he’s arguably the most important grocer in America.

Some of the best chefs in the country, like Alice Waters of Chez-Panisse, Thomas Keller of French Laundry, Angelo Auriana of Factory Kitchen, and Randall Selland of The Kitchen, will swear by Corti’s knowledge of food and wine. And everyone seems to have a Darrell Corti story of their own. “We did a luncheon for Marchese Piero Antinori, and Darrell Corti brought some wine from the 1950s and 1960s,” remembers Auriana. “Darrell Corti could go to Italy, seek out a barrel, and they would bottle that barrel only for Darrell Corti. He had this 1955 wine that was amazing and even the Marchese was impressed by his wine. I said to the winemaker, 1955? I never even saw such a bottle!”

So, who is Darrell Corti and why is he the most interesting man in the world? For starters, he’s fluent in six languages. In 1992, he was made Cavaliere Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana (the Italian Knighthood), and in 2009, he was inducted into the Culinary Institute of America’s Vintner’s Hall of Fame. But much more importantly, Corti is single-handedly responsible for introducing America to a global litany of products we take for granted today; he was the first grocer to import authentic Balsamic vinegar, the first U.S. retailer of white truffles, and an early purveyor of delicacies like imported cheeses, olive oils, sardines, Spanish Sherry, and more.

Now in his late-70s, Corti is still traveling around the world, finding rare products wherever he goes. It’s pretty clear that he’s figured out how to sell new products to Americans, and that chefs continue to take notice of that to this very day. So, if you’re looking for something rare, something exotic, or just want a treatise on the history of a vintage label, you can find Darrell Corti manning his station in the store, ready to impart his endless wealth of knowledge that—whether he acknowledges it or not—makes him the most interesting man in the food and wine world.

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