From Reims to Vienna: The Birth of Austrian Sparkling Wine – Schlumberger Kellerwelten
The story of Schlumberger begins not in Vienna, but in Reims - the capital of Champagne. Robert Alwin Schlumberger, born in Stuttgart in 1814, had to abandon his studies after his father's death and entered a merchant's apprenticeship. His path eventually led him to Ruinart Père et Fils, the oldest Champagne house in the world, founded in 1729. There, he trained as a cellar master and rose to become production manager, learning every detail of the méthode traditionnelle - the painstaking process of creating sparkling wine through secondary fermentation in the bottle.
His life changed direction during a boat trip on the Rhine in 1841, when he met Sophie Kirchner, the daughter of a Viennese factory owner. Their courtship was swift, but Sophie's parents refused to let her move to France. Instead, Robert followed her to Austria - and brought the art of Champagne production with him.
A Sparkling Rise to Imperial Favour
In 1842, he founded his company and began producing sparkling wine from Austrian grapes using the French method - the first person to do so in the country. He initially established production at vineyards in Bad Vöslau, south of Vienna, on the slopes of the Goldeck hillside. The quality was extraordinary. By 1846, Schlumberger had released its first sparkling wine and was already winning medals, and the "Schlumberger Champagner" quickly became the favourite drink of Viennese high society. At the 1862 World Exhibition in London, his "Sparkling Vöslauer" made it onto Queen Victoria's wine list. His son Otto later received the k.u.k. Hoflieferant (Imperial and Royal Court Supplier) appointment in 1895, cementing the brand's prestige.
Robert Alwin Schlumberger was also a pioneer beyond sparkling wine. He was the first to cultivate Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in Austria, importing the vines from France and planting them at his Vöslau vineyards. In 1878, he was ennobled with the title "Edler von Goldeck" in recognition of his contributions to Austrian winemaking. He died in 1879, and the company continued under his sons Otto, Gustav, and Robert II.
The Cellars: 300 Years Underground
The cellars in Heiligenstadt that visitors walk through today have their own remarkable story. The vaults date back over 300 years, but it was Karl Ritter von Ghega who expanded and connected them to their current scale in the mid-19th century. Ghega later became famous as the engineer behind the Semmering Railway, the world's first mountain railway and the first railway line inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1998. His work at the Schlumberger Kellerwelten is less well known, but the cathedral-shaped DOM-Keller with its distinctive portal remains an extraordinary piece of underground architecture.
Through Wars, Treaties, and New Beginnings
The company weathered significant upheaval in the 20th century. After the Treaty of Saint-Germain in 1919, Austrian producers could no longer use the word "Champagner" for their products, despite using the identical production method. The collapse of the Habsburg Empire also destroyed traditional export markets, and the original production facility in Bad Vöslau had to be liquidated. The family maintained ownership through both world wars, before Robert Schlumberger IV sold his holding to the Underberg Group in 1973.
Today, Schlumberger remains Austria's largest and most established sparkling wine producer. The company became the first sparkling wine cellar in the German-speaking world to receive ISO 9001 certification in 1994, and every bottle is still produced exclusively from Austrian grapes using the traditional method. In 2025, Schlumberger opened a new production facility in Müllendorf, Burgenland, while the headquarters and the Schlumberger Kellerwelten visitor experience remain in their historic home on the Heiligenstädter Straße - where vast numbers of bottles continue to mature in the same conditions that Ghega's engineering made possible over 170 years ago.
