Why it matters
The producer
Víno J. Stávek makes one grape in three formats, and the most surprising of them is white. Jan Stávek is the fourth generation of his family to make wine in Moravský Žižkov, a village in the Slovácká wine sub-region of southern Moravia, and his most distinctive bottle is a blanc de noirs pressed from Frankovka, a grape almost every other Czech producer vinifies red. The family has been making wine here since 1898. The winery runs ten to eleven hectares of estate vines under full organic certification, and the cellar works with spontaneous or vineyard-selected yeast, minimal filtration, no fining agents, and controlled sulfite use. Oenologist Dominik Eliáš works alongside Stávek on production.
Bílá Frankovka is a blanc de noirs white made from Frankovka.
Place and vineyards
Where the wines begin
Southern Moravia produces the large majority of Czech wine, and the Slovácká sub-region sits in its southeastern corner, close to the Slovak border. The landscape is flat to gently rolling, with continental temperatures: warm summers that ripen Frankovka's thick skin fully, and cold winters that reset the vine. The Slovácká sub-region is better known for white varieties in some villages, but the dark, iron-bearing loam soils of Moravský Žižkov suit Frankovka's need for warmth and drainage.
The VOC designation, Vinařská oblast Česká, is a Czech appellation quality marker tied to a defined production area and minimum standards. A Frankovka carrying the VOC label is a declared address wine, not a table or regional blend.
In the cellar
Vineyards and cellar
All fruit comes from the estate's own parcels. Organic farming means no synthetic herbicides, pesticides, or fertilisers. Cover crops and minimal soil disturbance are standard practice. Canopy management is aimed at even ripening and reduced disease pressure without chemical intervention.
In the cellar, Bílá Frankovka is whole-bunch pressed from Frankovka grapes without skin contact: the juice runs pale and the wine carries no red-grape phenolics or tannin, only the grape's acidity and aromatic oils. The VOC red ferments with spontaneous or vineyard-selected yeast, depending on the vintage. The Reserva goes into French oak for 23 months, long enough for the dark fruit to absorb wood character without the oak dominating. No fining agents are used at any level. Filtration is minimal to absent. Sulfite additions are kept low.
Wines to know
The range in view
The range centres on four expressions of Frankovka, each with a distinct cellar route and glass profile.
Bílá Frankovka is a blanc de noirs: whole-bunch pressed from the red grape, vinified without skin contact, and bottled as a white wine. It is pale in colour, with peach, white currant, and gooseberry on the nose, white flowers, a faint spice note, and a fresh, mouth-watering acidity through the mid-palate. The finish is longer and spicier than the aromatic profile suggests. A Kabinet-level version, Bílá Frankovka Kabinet, is also made, with more pronounced white currant and floral lift.