“He’s a fascinating man, brilliant, stimulating, creative - a catalyst for the world of wine.”
“I know of no one who has been more helpful to the industry.  His teachings and consultations internationally, without doubt, improved the quality of winemaking in our country.  He was a friend to everyone interested in fine wine.”
Robert Mondavi

“He has fantastic powers. He can be imperious, abrupt, impatient with sloppy procedures, but he is also poetic, visionary, romantic.  He is possessed by two geniuses:  dry-eyed, rigorous exactitude, and generous leaps of imagination - non-rigid, non-uniform and innovative.”
Warren Winiarski, Stag's Leap Wine Cellars

“His contributions have been of almost monumental proportion, influencing the whole style of dealing with vineyards and wine. He has been a pioneer, dedicated, never deviating from the solid principles of technology.”
Lou Gomberg, wine industry analyst for 50 years

“He lives with wine in his blood. We go through a marathon of tasting. He starts at 8:30 in the morning and he goes until 4 p.m. In two and a half days he tastes everything. He does it better than I do. And he is just as vibrant as when he started as our consultant.”
Cheryl Barber, winemaker at Chateau Ste. Michelle

“He has taught me rigorous technology, but he works off the feel of the vine and the wine. His true affiliation is to humanity. He is complex. He is like a key to every lock, wherever he goes.”
Rob Davis, winemaker at Jordan Winery

“To me, he was the grand master of wine.  He was a forceful Russian and a gentle person. The greats of wine all over the world have great affection and admiration for him.  What a beautiful man he was and what a privilege to have been touched by him.”
Margrit Biever Mondavi

“His palate was so refined he could tell by taste whether a wine came from Rutherford dust, Oakville dirt or a furrow in between.”
Sam Whiting, San Francisco Chronicle Writer

“Tchelistcheff was a constant student of the varietal’s suitability to soil and climate. He was one of the first to choose the Carneros district, on the sea-breezy northern end of San Francisco Bay, for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, while making from the warm Cabernet Sauvignon vineyards at Rutherford wines that became standards to which others would aspire. Tchelistcheff accepted the challenge to show Washington vintners how to make fine wines and molded the various micro-regions in the state into purveyors of fine wine.”
“Man of the Year: André Tchelistcheff,” John N. Hutchison, Wines and Vines, March 1990