Passing By: Thomas Schlumberger of Schlumberger

Thomas Schlumberger, 7th generation winemaker and CEO of the 19th century family estate which carries on the traditional winemaking inter-twined with modern technology, is a very affable and humble person who does not try to assert that his family is one of the most reputed producers of white wine in Alsace, and in fact the largest Grand Crus producer in the region.

I could not resist the temptation of meeting him again after 3 years when I had enjoyed his company at the wine dinner at Prego Restaurant at Westin Gurgaon. This despite the fact that I had to catch a flight to Chile that evening! I was also intrigued by his planned pouring of 4 wines-all white, to be matched with Dum Pukht cuisine that included fish to lamb and of course vegetarian dishes. As the General Manager of ITC Maurya, Mr Zubin Songadwala explained to me, the hotel had proposed to do something radical and try pairing the complete dinner with white wines and break the shackles of ‘red wine with red food.’   

It is commendable that during the period of industrialisation, many French wine growers  left the land in the 1900’s to the greener pastures in the urban areas, the Schlumberger family expanded the business by buying more land around their property. Seventh-generation family members now balance tradition and modern winemaking practices to produce wines of good to outstanding quality. Thomas’s sister Séverine took over from her father when he retired.  Her brother Thomas joined her in 2010 as the export manager, and today serves as Domaines Schlumberger’s CEO of the biggest family-owned wine estate in Alsace and loves to visit India frequently.

Domaines Schlumberger’s total holding is around 350 Acres with majority being Grand Crus classified vineyards. They are situated at an altitude of around 800-1300 feet at steep slopes that can run to 50°. The steep slopes make it difficult to harvest and the dry climate results in lower production. A total of around a million bottles are produced annually. They make only white wines with the exception of Pinot Noir which was showcased on the previous occasion and not this time. They do not buy grapes from outside; this helps in quality being impeccable. They specialise in Riesling, Gewürztraminer, Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc with Pinot Noir being the only red grape.

It was interesting to learn from Thomas that the sparkling wine producer Schlumberger in Austria also once belonged to his family. It was sold to a German family which in turn sold to the current owners who are Swedes. The Schlumberger family originally came from Germany as the name suggests. Alsace has been oscillating between Germany and France for centuries and currently is a part of France but with a lot of Germanic influence.

The food for the evening was outstanding-as always. Dum Pukht is a plush restaurant -opulent but elegant with comfortable seating and classy ambience and with impeccable service. It’s always a pleasure to visit this restaurant. Each and every dish was SWAAD, especially the galauti kebabs that melted in your mouth, helped by the Riesling which matched nicely and with balanced acidity was very pleasing. Standing out for the vegetarians was morel mushroom curry;  gucchhi subz-e-zar was in fact, the Piéce de Résistance- at least for vegetarians.

Riesling ‘Les Princess Abbes’ 2014 is the basic wine from the Domain and yet very pleasing on the palate. Gewürztraminer ‘Les Princess Abbes’ 2013 was very aromatic. As Thomas explained, Chanel 5 Perfume was found to have 100 molecules of fragrance whereas this wine when tested by the same lab was found to have 300 molecules. Riesling Grand Cru ‘Kitterle’ 2012 was medium to full-bodied, minerally and delicious. Pinot Gris Grand Cru Kitterle 2012 was a bit of enigma. Although a Grand Cru wine with a lot of concentration and flavours, it was a bit too sweet for the food in the plate and not enough for the dessert. But very well-made nevertheless!

It was a fine dinner evening with fine wines and Thomas seemed to be happy enough to promise to come back in less than 3 years. The dinner made him look forward to his similar visits to Bangalore and Mumbai. I had a flight to catch and promised him to score a hat-trick by being present at the next one too.

Subhash Arora

If you Like this article please click on the Like button