Robert Schlumberger von Goldeck: Difference between revisions

[[File:Schlumberger Sektkellerei 03 .jpg|thumb|320px220px|Facade of Schlumberger champagne cellars, Vienna-Döbling]]

'''Robert Alwin Schlumberger, Edler von Goldeck''' (12 September 12, 1814 - 13 July 13, 1879) was an [[entrepreneur]] and the first producer of [[sparkling wine]] ({{lang-de|link=no|Sekt}}) in [[Austrian Empire|Austria]].

Schlumberger was born in [[Stuttgart]] in the German [[Kingdom of Württemberg]]. Upon the early death of his father, he began a commercial apprenticeship. As director of [[Ruinart (Champagne)|Ruinart]], one of the leading [[Champagne (wine)|champagne]] houses in [[Reims]], [[France]], he was experienced with the ''[[Sparkling wine production|méthode champenoise]]''. whenIn he1841, on a 1841 boat trip he met his future wife Sophie Kirchner from [[Vienna]], the daughter of a wealthy factory owner. He had the idea to produce champagne-like wine (''Schaumwein'') in Austria using the French method but Austrian [[grape]]sgrapes.

In 1842, Schlumberger founded his company renting several vineyards in [[Bad Vöslau|Vöslau]], a small [[Lower Austria]]n town south of Vienna situated in the present-day ''[[Austrian wine|Thermenregion]]'' wine-growing area of the eastern [[Vienna Woods]]. His alliance which Sophie Kirchner, whom he married in the following year, helped him finance his business venture. Schlumberger presented his first sparkling wine in 1846 under the name ''Vöslauer weißer Schaumwein'' (White sparkling wine of Vöslau), from 1859 under ''Vöslauer Goldeck'', the first protected wine trademark in Austria. It was produced from red [[Blauer Portugieser]] grapes growing in the Goldeck vineyards in Vöslau, which Schlumberger bought in 1843, and the sparkling wine was an immediate success.<ref>[http://www.wein-plus.eu/en/Schlumberger_3.0.2673.html Wein-Plus Glossar: Schlumberger], accessed on January 23, 2013</ref>

Schlumberger wines were on board of the [[SMS Novara (1850)|SMS Novara]] on its around-the-world mission 1857-591859. The company opened branch stores in [[Berlin]] and after the [[1862 International Exhibition]] also in [[London]], where the wine was sold under the brand name "Vöslauer Sparkling". Robert Schlumberger also served as Vöslau mayor from 1864 to 1870. In 1878, one year before his death, he was ennobled by Emperor [[Franz Joseph I of Austria]] as "[[Edler]] von Goldeck". He died in Vöslau, aged 64.

Robert Schlumberger's son and heir Otto received the title of a ''[[Royal Warrant of Appointment|K.u.k. Hoflieferant]]'' in 1895. The company survived the dissolution of the [[Austria-Hungary|Austro-Hungarian Monarchy]] in 1918 and up to today, Schlumberger Wein- und Sektkellerei [[Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung|GmbH]] with its seat at Vienna-[[Döbling]] is one of the leading producers of sparkling wine in [[Austria]]. In 1973, it was taken over by the German [[Underberg]] company.

[[Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson]] (1832–1910) in a letter to his daughter Bergliot from [[Schwaz]] in Tyrol, 29 May 1894: {{cquote|We drank ''Vöslauer Schaumwein'', and maybe it was time place and mood that made a difference, but the best Champagne does not suit me like this one.<ref>[http://www.dokpro.uio.no/litteratur/bjoernson/bbaulestad.txt {{noin iconlang|no}} Documentation project of the Oslo University]</ref>}}Vöslauer wine is also mentioned by [[John Galsworthy]] (1867–1933) in his 1926 play ''Escape'' as well as in the 1957 volume of novellas ''Fin de siècle'' by [[Paul Morand]] (1888–1976).

* [httphttps://wwwweb.archive.org/web/20041216161413/http://margaretswaine.com/AustriaWine2003.htm Austria Wine Lecture 2003]

[[Category:PeopleBusinesspeople from Stuttgart]]