André Tchelistcheff

André Tchelistcheff
Monument to André Tchelistcheff in Napa, California
Born	December 7, 1901 Moscow
Died	April 5, 1994 Napa, California
Nationality	Russian
Occupation	Winemaker

André Tchelistcheff (Russian: Андрей Викторович Челищев, December 7, 1901 - April 5, 1994) was America's most influential post-Prohibition winemaker. Tchelistcheff is most notable for his contributions toward defining the style of California's best wines, especially Cabernet Sauvignon. Called the "dean of American winemakers", industry pioneers, such as Rev. John Staten of Field Stone Winery, Robert Mondavi, Louis Martini and Rob Davis of Jordan Vineyard & Winery, and Rick Sayre of Rodney Strong Wine Estates, considered him their mentor.

Born to an aristocratic family in Moscow, Russia in 1901, Tchelistcheff's father was Chief Justice of the Russian Imperial Court. Tchelistcheff studied at the military academy at Kiev, but returned to his family when they were forced to flee Moscow due to the Russian Revolution of 1917. From 1918-1921, Tchelistcheff fought with the White Army in the Russian Civil War. In 1921, he was left for dead on a Crimean battlefield after his unit was machine-gunned during a snowstorm. He eventually recovered and was reunited with his family, who fled Russia to Yugoslavia.

After leaving Russia, Tchelistcheff studied agricultural technology in Czechoslovakia and then continued his education in France at both the Institut Pasteur and the Institut National Agronomique, where he studied oenology, fermentation and microbiology.

In 1938, Beaulieu Vineyards (BV) founder and owner Georges de Latour visited France in search of a new winemaker who had a cosmopolitan and scientific background. He was introduced to Tchelistcheff at the French National Agronomy Institute where Andre was working, along with research he was doing at the Pasteur Institute. This introduction came through the auspices of Leon Bonnet, Emeritus Professor at University of California, Berkeley and a BV consultant. Although Tchelistcheff had already received offers from winemakers worldwide, he agreed to join Beaulieu Vineyard, and arrived in Napa Valley, California in September, 1938 as BV's vice president and chief winemaker.