Tchelistcheff was born a century ago to a noble family in Moscow. After his family was forced into exile by the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, he became an officer in the White Russian infantry. Left for dead, half frozen in the snow banked battlefield, luckily he was later found and miraculously saved.

In his thirties, he studied at the Institut National Agronomique in Paris and showed remarkable talent. Napa based Georges de Latour, patriarch of Beaulieu Vineyard visited the Institut, meeting André briefly. Tchelistcheff was conducting research in fermentation science, a subject that he would later say was at the time, "absolutely foreign to California..scientifically, phonetically, or philosophically."

In 1938, André arrived to Napa where he remained a "text"-patriot, sharing his knowledge within the Californian wine industry, all the while further establishing Beaulieu Vineyard as a quality leader.

Beaulieu Vineyard's founder, Georges de Latour, was a man of certain influence and vision. He shrewdly kept B. V. wines afloat during prohibition by gaining status with the Catholic Church as one of the few designated sources of sacramental wine. Legend is that availability of sacramental wine created a marked increase of church attendance during prohibition.

André Tchelistcheff was a visible force in California wine till his death in 1994. At an age when many embrace retirement, André bought a new yellow 240Z sports car. Putting well over 200,000 miles on the car as he drove from one consultation job to another until he finally totaled the car, rolling three times, in 1988.

André was one of the first "flying winemakers", offering expertise to wineries in destinations such as Texas and Washington state, not to mention world regions such Italy's Tuscany. His students include the present winemakers of stellar operations such as Jordan and Rodney Strong, both of Sonoma. He died in 1994, still active in winemaking.

A statue honoring André Tchelistcheff has been commissioned and will be dedicated on the grounds of Beaulieu Vineyard this summer. The statue is scaled at slightly larger than life, sort of like André.

Celebrating what would have been André's one hundredth birthday, Beaulieu Vineyard hosted an intimate dinner, opening B.V. wines dating back to 1942, to which this writer was luckily invited. André's spry widow, Dorothy, was
present along with a roll call list of great California winemakers, including Joel Aiken, André's present successor at B.V. Overall the wines were as graceful and spirited as André's widow.

Many of the finest Beaulieu Vineyard wines from this rare cellar showcasing are listed below. All be it academic to read, as the wines are almost impossible to find, feel free to work a reference into conversation to impress your friends.
An example, when you open the current release of B.V.'s Coastal Pinot Noir (around $10), comment that "It is no B.V. "Beaumont" Pinot 1946 (one of André's lifetime favorites), but we like it." That may cause a jaw or two to drop.

1946 "Beaumont", Napa Valley- dusty, spiced tea, allspice, and clove aromas, clean red fruit flavors fully alive, complex and not showing its age, orange rind, cherry tomato, like dark bread dipped in mature Burgundy wine, raspberry/cashew at the end ("André always talked about this wine," says Aiken, "and I finally was able to try it in the early '90's.")
Score: 93

2000 "Maestro", Carneros- resounding, jammy red fruit and black cherry aromas, tastes lean, meaty and earthily spiced ("...only bottled a month before this tasting,"explains Aiken, "there are nonetheless delicate flavors of red and black cherry, a small hint of allspice/cinnamon, and some delicate ash complexity from the oak.")