Wineglobe Community: Domaine Schlumberger

Let's see what we know about this wine maker...

We are 100 % estate winegrowers who exclusively harvest and transform our own production. We do not buy any grapes nor juice or wine (Alsatians winegrowers represents only 22% of the regional production).
Situated on the dizzy heights of the hills of Guebwiller, in the south of Alsace, with slopes of 50° and at an altitude going from 250 to 390 metres, our vineyard is certainly one of the most breathtaking in Alsace.
Its excellent southwest, south, south east exposure gets a great deal of sunshine.
Guebwiller is the only spot in Alsace producing 4 Grands Crus. Half of our vineyard, i.e. 70 hectares, are composed of these unique “terroirs”.
The wines of our Grands Crus portray, from year to year, the ancient memory of the stones of the land.
Vosges sandstone gives subtle nuances : sometimes wine can be lightly different just for a few meters difference.

Our estate is located in Alsace, east of France. When our ancestors in the XVI Century settled in Guebwiller, the monks “les Princes Abbés” of Murbach controlled the vineyard. This power ceased at the French Revolution, end of the XVIII Century and it permitted a new land regrouping.

In 1810 Nicolas Schlumberger (1782-1867) set up a factory of materiel machines in Guebwiller. As he was attached to the land he also bought about 20 hectares of vines. That was the start of a rare harmony between earth and human exigencies: “Les Domaines Schlumberger” were born.

Three generations later, Ernest Schlumberger (1885 – 1954) took care of the Domaine. Because of the phylloxera that ruined the vines in the early XX Century, the vineyard of Guebwiller was abandoned by most of the winegrowers during this period. Shrewdly, Ernest Schumberger realised the opportunity in front of him, so he bought plots of vine and replanted them. He also built terraces on the whole vineyard and established horizontally planting of the vine.
Eric Beydon-Schlumberger arrived in Guebwiller in 1971 and invested himself in the company. We owe to him a re-planting of the old vineyard as well its world famous renown.

The Cellar

The grapes are harvested during the first days of Autumn and transported under 2 hours to the cellar. No stripping (except for the Pinot Noir), but the grapes are conveyed whole to the presses.
Slow and regular pneumatic pressing provides almost limpid juices. The juices are strained using static sludge removal. A perfectly limpid juice is put to ferment, at a controlled temperature between 20°C and 23°C, in tuns made of centenary oak casks, for 6 to 12 weeks.

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

A filtration ends this first stage of wine making at the start of the Summer.

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

Bottling is performed using an equipment sterilised with steam and using a membrane filtration unit with 1.2µ then 0.65µ cartridges, to guarantee a 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 fitted with a 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 cases, 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 or the traceability of our wines is checked from the vine to the bottling.

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What about Horses ?

We find records of this rustic, good-tempered horse as far back as the Roman period.
It seems that it comes from a crossbreeding between local mares and German stallions. They were the best reproductive stallions in all Burgundy and the knights of the middle age mounted them when they fought in tournaments.

Horse of warriors, the Sun King Louis XIV, and Napoleon I adopted them for their cavalry as well as for towing artillery and coaches. Unfortunately all these withdrawals for the army led to a shortage of the breed. It is only early in the 20th century that a few people decided to take care of them. In 1910 the first breeder competition took place in Maîche (Department of the Doubs). This proud horse once again found its place of honour, assisting numerous farming activities. Since then, though motorisation has increased, the Franc-Comtois horse is still present in our vines and hearts.
Today, it is the first breed for farm working in France.