Domaines Schlumberger

Our estate is located in Alsace, in eastern France. When our ancestors settled in Guebwiller in the sixteenth century, the Prince Abbots of the Murbach abbey were largely controlling the vineyard. The French Revolution, at the end of the eighteenth century, led to the end of their influence and allowed land redistribution.

In 1810, Nicolas Schlumberger (1782-1867) set up his textile machinery factory in Guebwiller. To mark his attachment to the land, he also bought about 20 hectares of vines. In doing so, he laid the foundations of a rare conjunction of human search for perfection and land:

The "Domaines Schlumberger” were born.

Three generations later, Ernest Schlumberger (1885–1954) assumed control of the estate. Deeply affected by the phylloxera that hit it in the early twentieth cetury, the Guebwiller vineyard had been abandoned by most of the winegrowers.

Shrewdly, Ernest Schumberger realised the opportunity in front of him. He bought as many plots of land as he could and replanted vines.

He then arranged the whole vineyard in terraces and introduced horizontal vine planting.

Eric Beydon-Schlumberger arrived in Guebwiller in 1971 and fully involved himself in the company. We owe to him the replanting of the ageing vineyard and the international reputation of the Domaines Schlumberger.

History

The family of Schlumberger comes from Souabe, a German region today a part of Bade Wurtemberg.

Claus Schlumberger was the first to settle in Guebwiller in the XVI century under the period of the monks “The Princes Abbés”.

As he couldn’t bare the domination of the monks, he moved to Mulhouse, a free and protestant town.

At his death, several Schlumberger family members came from Souabe to settle in Mulhouse. Like Claus himself most of them were tanners.

Several generations followed one another and in the XVII Century Schlumberger was one of the biggest families in Mulhouse.

Peter Schlumberger (1750-1830) Nicolas’s father invested in the fabric factory Jean–Henri Dollfus, the most important one at this period.

Nicolas Schlumberger was born in 1782. He relocated from Mulhouse to Guebwiller in 1810 where he created a factory of fabric machines. He also bought 20 hectares of vineyard and enlarged the cellars.

He married Marie Elisabeth Bourcart: and they had 9 children together.

Nicolas died in 1867, three of his sons (Nicolas Junior, Jean and Adolphe) took charge of the factory. Nicolas Junior and Adolphe quickly gave up.

Jean Schlumberger inherited all the vineyards, lands and forests. He married Clarisse Dollfus in 1845: they had 6 boys

Ernest, one of their sons, married Caroline Trautmann in 1882 (they had 7 children) Fond of nature, he settled at the Castle of Bonnefontaine, a gift from his father, Jean.

Paul, another of Jean’s sons, married Marguerite de Witt: they had 6 children.

In order to avoid them being German (at this time Alsace was annexed by the Germans) Paul settled in Paris with his family. His sons Conrad, Marcel and Daniel moved to the USA and founded the oil company Schlumberger (today it also produces electric meters, phone boxes, parking meter…). Maurice, another son launched the bank Neuflize Schlumberger and Mallet (N.S.M).

Another of Ernest’s sons (also named Ernest –1885-1954) returned to Guebwiller in order to look after the factory as well as the vineyard.

He married his cousin Christine Schlumberger (1894-1971): they had 2 girls Anne (1914) and Clarisse (1919). We have named our more prestigious cuvees after the name of these 3 exceptional women.

Ernest (junior) was a vine fanatic and he spent all his life taking care of it.

He was conscious of the renown of the family and was the only one to carry out all the necessary works to improve the vine.

After the disease of phyloxera has destroyed the whole vineyard, he replanted it and took the advantage in buying more plots. He then enlargened the vineyard from 40 hectares to 110 hectares. He also adopted the horizontally planting system.

His daughter Anne married Roger Koch. She has 4 children.

Clarisse, the second daughter married Jean Beydon: they have 3 sons.

At Christine Schlumberger’s death, Eric, the oldest son of Clarisse took care of the vineyard like his ancestor Jean did in the past.

Since my father Eric has retired in 2001, his brother Alain and myself are handing on the torch.

We are 100 % estate winegrowers, we vinify exclusively our own harvest. We buy neither grapes, nor juice, nor wines (Alsatians winegrowers represents only 22% of the regional production).
Located on the dizzy heights of the hills of Guebwiller, in southern Alsace, with slopes reaching 50° and at an altitude going from 250 to 390 metres, our mountain-side vineyard is surely one of the most breathtaking in Alsace.
Its excellent southwest, south, south east exposure ensures it perfect sun exposure..
Guebwiller is the only spot in Alsace producing 4 Grands Crus. Half of our vineyard, that is to say 70 hectares, consists of these unique “terroirs”.
The wines of our Grands Crus portray, from year to year, the ancient memory of the stones of our land.
The Vosges sandstone, on the edge of the mountain,produces subtle nuances: plots located anly a few meters from each other can produce very different wines.

The “ALSACE GRAND CRU” appellation gathers the 51 best Alsatian “terroirs”.
This classification appeared in 1983 by the “Institut National des Appellations d’Origine” (INAO) based on similar qualitative criteria to those applied to Burgundy: geology, exposure and microclimate.
In 1983, only 25 had been defined, including the 4 located in Guebwiller (25 other Grands Crus have been defined in 1992).
The Domaine Schlumberger, with 50% of its area planted with Grands Crus have resolutely decided to bear proudly the colours of their exceptional terroirs.

Grand Cru Kitterle

t has a total area of 26 hectares, of which 20 hectares are owned by the Domaine Schlumberger. Its height ranges from 270 to 360 metres. Its average yield is 25 hectolitres per hectare.
The winegrowers who worked in this plot where steep slopes can reach 50 ° gave it the local nickname of «the calf-breaker».
This volcano-sandstone terroir was first mentioned in 1699 and is marketed under its own name since 1830.
It occupies a unique site on the edge of the mountain: a rocky outcrop offering three different expositions: southwest, south, south-east, all perched on very steep slopes of up to 50°.

Due to its very poor soil, the yield cannot be important, but it flavours concentration of aromas and an exceptional ageing ability.

Favourites grape varieties: Riesling, Pinot Gris, Gewurztraminer.

Grand Cru Kessler

The Domaine Schlumberger owns 22 hectares of this 29 hectare area.
Its height ranges from 300 to 390 metres.
Its average yield is 35 hectolitres per hectare.
Kessler is a sandstone soil, mentioned for the first time as soon as 1394 and marketed under its own name since 1830.
In its centre, the hill forms a small valley (Kessler) which shelters it from the North winds and from the cold drafts..
It is an excellent spot for Gewurztraminer, Riesling and Pinot Gris and it produces sweet, charming wines.

Grand Cru Saering

It is a 27 hectare area, of which 20 hectares are owned by the Domaine Schlumberger.

Its height ranges from 260 to 300 metres.

Its average yield is 40 hectolitres per hectare.

Its name means "sea ring". This “terroir” slips down the mountain side and extends like a peninsula over the plain, forming the shape of a ring. Million years ago, this area was covered by the sea. The word “Ring” was also used to designate a Roman camp, and "Seh" originates from sehen (see in German): it is now proved that an observation camp was indeed erected there.
The stony and rather heavy soils of this Grand Cru suit first if all the Riesling.

Saering was first mentioned in 1250 and marketing began under this name in 1830.

Grand Cru Spiegel

It has a total area of 18 hectares, of which 5 hectares are owned by the Domaine Schlumberger.

Its height ranges from 260 to 315 metres.

Its average yield is 40 hectolitres per hectare.

"The Mirror": like a mirror reflecting the sun on its grapes, this East-facing terroir extends on the middle of the hillside. Located between Guebwiller and the neighbouting village of Bergholtz, its sandy soils cover a malry-sandstone base.

It was alredy mentioned in the fifteenth century.

Especially Pinot Gris expresses its typicity in this terroir. It is also the special area where we pick the grapes we will use for our Vendanges Tardives (Late Harvest) or for our “Cuvée Clarisse Sélection de Grains Nobles”.

After having been harvested, the grapes are sent to the cellar in crates. Our last-generation pneumatic presses allow very smooth pressing, ensuring the purity of the aromas.

We have 120 old oak casks (they are more than one hundred years old to avoid oak taste in the wines). These monuments in or cellar are equipped with a thermoregulation system. They are the perfect symbol of the synthesis of tradition and innovation.

We also have 80 stainless steel vats allowing strict selection by plots and producing rare cuvées. This way, freshness and fruit are perfectly maintained.

The grapes are harvested during the first days of Autumn and transported within less than 2 hours to the cellar.

No stripping (except for the Pinot Noir), the entire grapes are conveyed to the presses.

Slow and regular pneumatic pressing provides almost limpid juices. The juices are clarified using static sludge removal.
A perfectly limpid juice is put to ferment for 6 to 12 weeks, at a controlled temperature between 20°C and 23°C, in over one hundread year old aok casks.

The new wine is then racked, and it rests then for 8 to 9 months on fine lees inside the tuns.

A filtration ends this first stage of wine making at the beginning of summer.

The wine is then refined, at constant temperature, for 12 to 18 months in a stainless steel vat, and eventually, then prepared for bottling.

Bottling is performed using steam-sterilised equipment with a membrane filtration unit with 1.2µ then 0.65µ cartridges, to guarantee perfect microbiological stability.

4 sample bottles are taken during each bottling session for analysis by an independent laboratory certified by COFRAC in order to guarantee the perfect quality of our wines to every customer.

All our wine bottles are corked with natural cork, which we select ourselves from the same suppliers we have been using for more than 50 years.

The bottled wine, stored in pallet containers, is stored in our wine storehouses for several months, before being labelled, then dispatched throughout the world.

All of our cellar work is controlled by ECOCERT once a year. The traceability of our wines is checked from the vine to the bottling.