Tchelistcheff, André. Russian-born, Toulouse-Lautrec-sized enologist (1901-1994) and leading light of the ascendant Napa Valley of the post-Prohibition era. Summoned to California from his adopted France in 1938 by Georges de Latour, the French owner of Beaulieu Vineyards in Rutherford, California, Tchelistcheff used his expertise to cultivate the state’s first superior Cabernet Sauvignons, and remained with the winemaker for some 40 years. For all his loyalty to Beaulieu, Tchelistcheff also blazed a trail for today’s “flying winemakers,” having started a sideline as a handsomely compensated consultant when MICHEL ROLLAND was still suckling at the teet in Libourne.
