Alexis Lichine was a larger-than-life figure who was born in Moscow in 1913 and died in Bordeaux in 1989. During his life he was an indefatigable salesman and promoter, as well as the winner of numerous military honors in WWII. He began his wine career as a wine writer and an expert on French and California wines and in 1951 purchased Chateau Prieure-Lichine. He also started a negociant business in New York and set up a wine shipping company in Bordeaux. Wines with the Lichine label are associated with his negociant/exporting firms.