Alexis Lichine

Varietal labeling Starting around 1940, Lichine and Schoonmaker promoted the idea that California producers should label their wines by the grape variety or varieties from which they were made. The standard practice among New World producers was to give their wines semi-generic labels. That is, they named them after the regions whose wines they resembled. For example, full-bodied red varieties might be labeled "Burgundy", whereas crisp whites might be labeled "Chablis".

California's Wente Vineyards was the first winery to adopt the practice. After calling its Sauvignon blanc by its varietal name rather than labeling it "Graves," Lichine and Schoonmaker found its sales volume to increase several-fold. More importantly, they were able to sell it in the important east coast U.S. market. Others, such as Robert Mondavi, soon adopted the practice, which has become the standard for New World (and, increasingly, some Old World) wines.

Death Lichine died of cancer at Château Prieuré-Lichine on June 1, 1989, aged 75. He was succeeded by his son Sacha (then aged 28), who later moved to Switzerland and sold Prieure-Lichine in August 1999.

Legacy In 2008, he was posthumously inducted into the Wine Writers' Hall of Fame by the Wine Media Guild of New York.

Books Lichine's writings included Wines of France (1951, revised 1955), Alexis Lichine's Guide to Wines and Vineyards of France (rev. 1989 ), co-author, Sam Perkins, and Alexis Lichine’s Encyclopedia of Wines and Spirits (1967, rev. 1987 ). The New York Times wine critic Frank J. Prial asserted that "Alexis Lichine, the Russian-American who loved France but hated the French, taught his adopted country to drink wine".