André Tchelistcheff
These three selections were excerpted from a 1987 taped interview with André Tchelistcheff (b.1901-d.1994) by the Beneficient Oenological Institute. The interview spans the 35 years that André spent working for Beaulieu Vineyards, 1938 to 1973.
Born in Russia and educated in France, André was 37 when he came to the U.S. to work for Mr. de Latour. He created the first world-class post-Prohibition Cabernets at BV and established an independent reputation as both wine and vineyard consultant. His influence on the qualitative progress of 20th century California wines, especially the Napa Valley's, was little short of revolutionary and endures today.
The San Francisco Chronicle wrote of him in 1991: "His palate was so refined he could tell by taste whether a wine came from Rutherford dust, Oakville dirt or a furrow in between." Long before his death at the age of 92, André widely came to be considered "the dean of American winemakers."