Schlumberger

Business at Schlumberger, which ranks among the top 50 companies in Austria, combines tradition and the pursuit of premium quality

A glass of sparkling wine was - of course - the first indication that the trade delegates were given of this on entering the traditional Viennese headquarters where Mag. Wolfgang Spiller told them some details about the history of Schlumberger as well as some of the company?s future plans and prospects.

Except for the corks, which come from Portugal and Spain, Schlumberger sparkling wine is 100% Austrian. The selected base wines are exclusively provided by Austrian contract vintners who guarantee the highest Schlumberger-quality standards. Originally founded in 1842 by Robert Schlumberger, this respected Viennese business of tradition is now part of the distinguished Underberg family corporation and listed at the Viennese stock exchange.

On a guided tour through the famous wine cellars, the trade delegates learned more about the manufacturing process at Schlumberger. These cellars of sparkling wine in Vienna?s nineteenth district are the oldest of their kind in Austria. The romantic labyrinth of cellars, stretching for several kilometers below ground, reveals a fascinating blend of contemporary and traditional features.

It was no less than Karl Ritter von Ghega (the engineer of the Semmering railway) who extended the 300-year-old cellar to its present size. Several million bottles of Sekt (sparkling wine) are stored here in the protective darkness. On the tour, the trade delegates were shown the enchanting vaults and chambers where the "Schlumberger" gets its sparkle and learned out about the "méthode traditionelle", trying their hand at riddling the bottles before sampling Austria's answer to champagne. Then, fittingly enough, a sparkling wine tasting concluded the event.