Why it matters
The producer
Špalek began with a father and his two sons in 1992. Today, three generations work together, and every wine starts with grapes from the family’s own Kraví hora vineyards. That ownership matters at bottling: Cuvée Gryllus, Sur Lie and Edelspitz Grüner Veltliner are not assembled from purchased parcels, but carry different cellar treatments applied to the same estate framework.
The winery’s cellar is at Cellar 104/E in Nový Šaldorf. From there, the family makes around 75,000 bottles annually, combining a substantial small estate with hands-on control of the vineyard fruit. The defining practical link is direct: grapes are grown on Kraví hora, then moved through a gravity-flow cellar instead of being pumped from vessel to vessel.
Place and vineyards
Where the wines begin
Kraví hora near Znojmo is the address behind Špalek’s wines. Estate grapes from this local hill supply the full range, which lets a dry Grüner Veltliner, a blend such as Cuvée Gryllus and a lees-aged bottling begin with fruit grown under the same family’s care. The difference between bottles therefore comes chiefly from grape choice and cellar handling, rather than a change from estate fruit to purchased wine.
Špalek is also a founding member of VOC Znojmo, established in 2005. That places the winery within the Znojmo wine community while its labels remain tied to Kraví hora vineyards. For the drinker, the useful detail is not a broad regional claim but a tangible one: the grapes behind the bottles come from 12 hectares managed as one estate.
In the cellar
Vineyards and cellar
Organic work begins in the rows. Mechanical weed control replaces chemical herbicides, while the estate’s stated treatments include plant extracts, vegetable oils, baking soda, sulfur and copper. Because all wines come from the family’s own grapes, that farming programme runs continuously from the 12 hectares on Kraví hora into every named bottling.
In the cellar, gravity flow reduces the need to pump grapes and wine between stages. Špalek then changes the wine’s shape through bottle-specific élevage. Sur Lie spends a full year on its lees, with stirring during ageing, and finishes that period in new oak. Lees contact and stirring build texture; new oak adds another structural element, making this a different proposition from the dry Edelspitz Grüner Veltliner.
Wines to know
The range in view
The range has several clear lanes. Edelspitz Grüner Veltliner Bio 2021 is a dry Grüner Veltliner from a named vineyard, offering a focused white-wine reference for the estate. Its dry format keeps sweetness out of the equation, leaving grape, site and acidity to carry the palate and finish.
Cuvée Gryllus is the blend-led part of the range. Its wine material includes documented fruit character and tannin, so it offers a route toward a more structured style than the dry Grüner Veltliner. Sur Lie is cellar-led: a year on lees, regular stirring and new oak place texture, oak and tannin at the centre of its profile. The three bottles show distinct ways Špalek handles its Kraví hora fruit without turning the range into one repeated style.
A useful way in
A bottle to begin with
Begin with Edelspitz Grüner Veltliner Bio 2021. It is a dry Grüner Veltliner from a named vineyard, made from Špalek’s own Kraví hora grapes. The bottle keeps the message direct: dry palate, grape-led fruit, acidity and finish, without the added lees and new-oak treatment used for Sur Lie. It is a useful first purchase because it makes the estate-fruit and vineyard connection easy to taste before moving to the more cellar-shaped wines.