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.