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. I spoke recently with Corti about his thoughts on the subject, and why he’s chosen to expunge high alcohol wines from his shelves