Schlumberger Cellars Tours

The Schlumberger cellars in Vienna’s nineteenth district are the oldest sparkling wine cellars in Austria. Schlumberger Cellars date back to the 18th century, and specialize in making sparkling wine. The 300­-year­-old cellars wind through several miles of underground tunnels, which store several million bottles of sparkling wine (‘Sekt’ in German). The brick­-lined tunnels (which were designed by the famous engineer Carl Ritter von Ghega, known best for designing the Semmering Railway) provide the steady, moderate temperature that’s needed for the wine to properly ferment. The founder of the original vineyard trained as a winemaker in Reims, France, which meant that Schlumberger Cellars’ sparkling wine was allowed to be called Champagne until France changed its winemaking laws in 1900. Schlumberger Cellars is a wonderful place to visit if you’re a connoisseur of wine, or if you just like to drink it! The cellars combine a blend of contemporary and traditional features in their winemaking practices, and visitors can learn about making wine in the traditional méthode Champenoise and even riddle some bottles while touring the extensive cellars. The wine is both excellent and reasonably priced, and visitors can sample a glass of it after one of the twice-­weekly tours.