Schröder & Schÿler

The house

The house has traded in Bordeaux since 1739, and the men who led it in its early decades came from Hamburg. For 8 generations the Schÿlers have run it. In 1861 E. Kirstein, one of its partners, was appointed consul of the King of Denmark in Bordeaux. Its wine Retour des Indes goes back to the 1870s, and in 1883 Henri Schÿler, of the 4th generation, spent 6 months selling in the United States and Canada. In 1903 it had a chai, or wine store, built near Bordeaux in reinforced concrete by the firm of Hennebique, to plans by the architect Grelet.

Like the other great merchant houses of Bordeaux, it bought the classed growths by the crop. Charles Cocks and Édouard Féret, whose Bordeaux et ses vins was the reference book of the Bordeaux trade, recorded in 1898 that Schröder, Schÿler et Cie had the monopoly of the white wines of Château Carbonnieux until 1905. A book on the classed growths of the Médoc printed in London in 1920 lists the house among the buyers of the 1904 vintage of Ducru-Beaucaillou. The same book puts it among the 5 houses that shared the Lafite vintages of 1917, 1918 and 1919, and among the 7 that held those of Cos d’Estournel.

Château Kirwan, one of the third growths of Margaux, became the family’s own. In 1902 Armand Schÿler, of the 5th generation, signed an abonnement, a contract to buy every future harvest, and in 1926 the family bought the estate outright. The Schÿlers rebuilt its cellars and vat room in 2016 and opened rooms for visitors. Yann Schÿler, of the 8th generation, heads the house today, and its managing director, Philippe Delfaut, also runs Kirwan. The house still sells the wine.

At a glance

Kind

Négociant

Based in

Bordeaux

Founded

1739

Owner

The Schÿler family, for 8 generations

Direction

Yann Schÿler, 8th generation; Philippe Delfaut, managing director

Château

Kirwan, in the family since 1926

Brands

Retour des Indes

In the record

Carbonnieux whites until 1905, recorded in 1898; Kirwan by subscription from 1902; Ducru-Beaucaillou, 1904; Lafite and Cos d’Estournel, 1917 to 1919