Slovakia · Other producers

Strekov 1075

An organic 12-hectare estate in Strekov/Kürt, southern Slovakia, where Zsolt Sütó makes spontaneous-fermented wines from regional grapes in open vats and old oak.

The producer

Strekov 1075 sits in Strekov, also called Kürt, near Slovakia’s Hungarian border, where nearby marshlands and the Danube contribute to the vineyard microclimate. Owner-winemaker Zsolt Sütó works 12 hectares certified organic by Naturalis SK, using regional grapes and spontaneous fermentation; open vats, old oak, no fining, no filtration and no added sulfur leave texture and fruit clearly exposed in the finished wines.

The range moves between white, red and skin-contact bottles. Veltlín 2022, made from Veltlínske zelené (Grüner Veltliner), combines dry citrus, pear and pepper with savoury oxidative notes from six to eight months under flor in untopped oak. Porta brings Welschriesling and Grüner Veltliner together with skin contact for orange-wine colour, grip and weight, while Fred takes the red route through fruit, texture and a savoury development.

Known for

Regional Slovak grapes, skin-contact wines and spontaneous fermentation without added sulfur.

Notable facts

The story

Wooden Stakes In Strekov

Zsolt Sütó removed the metal trellising from his vineyards and replaced it with stakes made from local wood. The change made work in the rows harder: harvesting became more difficult, and the vines faced a greater risk of rot than they had under the metal system. It was a physical alteration to each row rather than a cellar adjustment made after harvest. Local wooden stakes took the place of the metal supports, leaving the vineyard with a more labour-intensive training system and a visible reminder of the extra work required around the vines.

Wooden Stakes In Strekov

Zsolt Sütó removed the metal trellising from his vineyards and replaced it with stakes made from local wood. The change made work in the rows harder: harvesting became more difficult, and the vines faced a greater risk of rot than they had under the metal system. It was a physical alteration to each row rather than a cellar adjustment made after harvest. Local wooden stakes took the place of the metal supports, leaving the vineyard with a more labour-intensive training system and a visible reminder of the extra work required around the vines.

From the atlas

Strekov 1075

At A Glance

The Producer

Strekov 1075 is Zsolt Sütó’s 12-hectare organic estate in Strekov, or Kürt, near Slovakia’s border with Hungary. Its name joins the place to the cellar door: 1075 is both the earliest written trace of the village and Sütó’s house number. That local frame carries into bottles made from Central European grapes, rather than an international-variety formula.

Sütó works varieties with local names and long regional roots: Rizling vlašský, Veltlínske zelené, Modrý Portugal, Frankovka modrá and Svätovavrinecké. The result is a range that moves from white wine to red and skin-contact wine, with grape character and handling doing the sorting rather than a single house style.

Place

Strekov sits in southern Slovakia, close to Hungary, with marshlands and the Danube River nearby. The wetlands and river contribute to the vineyards’ microclimate, so the estate’s fruit grows in a landscape shaped by water as well as by the inland border. That setting is part of why the wines are best understood through their village and their regional grapes, not through a borrowed appellation shorthand.

The local name Kürt matters because it is another name for the same village printed into the estate’s story. On a Strekov 1075 label, place is not a distant regional badge: it is the village attached to Sütó’s home, vineyards and fermentation cellar.

Soil And Site

The supplied vineyard record does not name a soil type, altitude or formal appellation, so Strekov 1075 is better read through its documented sites than through assumed geology. The clearest parcel detail is Aurelius: a small, east-facing vineyard planted in 2008. East-facing exposure gives that named bottle a specific physical origin, while the Danube and nearby marshlands remain the wider environmental markers for the estate.

Story

Sütó began working land near Strekov in 2002. Vineyard conversion followed in 2009, and spontaneous fermentation became universal in 2012. In 2017, after reducing sulfur over time, he stopped adding it altogether. That sequence changed the cellar work bottle by bottle: fermentation now proceeds without selected yeast, while ageing and settling happen without an added sulfur dose.

The estate’s methods are therefore not an isolated flourish on one cuvée. Open vats and old barrels are part of the working setup, and the decision to bottle without fining, filtration or added sulfur applies across the wines described here. The consequence is a range in which texture, lees contact and savoury development can remain visible rather than being smoothed away.

Vineyards And Cellar

Naturalis SK certification anchors the vineyard work, while manual work and local wooden stakes keep cultivation physically close to each vine. In the cellar, spontaneous fermentation lets the fruit begin on its own yeasts; open vats and old oak barrels of different sizes provide the vessels for fermentation and ageing. Old oak is useful here because it can hold and mature wine without automatically turning every bottle into a show of new wood flavour.

Skin contact plays a separate role in wines such as Porta. White grapes fermenting with their skins take on colour, tannin and a firmer texture, so the wine sits apart from a straightforward white. Across the range, no fining or filtration means the wine is not clarified by those processes before bottling; no added sulfur is the final part of that cellar approach.

Wines

The range has several routes through Strekov’s grapes. Porta is the skin-contact branch: Welschriesling and Grüner Veltliner, called Veltlínske zelené locally, meet their skins to produce an orange wine with colour, grip and more tactile weight than a conventional white. Creme and Aurelius extend the named white-wine side, with Aurelius tied to its small east-facing 2008 planting.

Veltlín is the clearest documented white: Veltlín 2022 is Veltlínske zelené raised for six to eight months under flor in untopped 300-litre Zemplén oak barrels. Flor is a yeast layer that forms above the wine in a partly air-filled vessel; leaving the barrel untopped introduces an oxidative edge alongside fruit and acidity. The red wines bring Modrý Portugal, Frankovka modrá and Svätovavrinecké into view. Fred, a red in the range, has been noted for fruit, texture and a savoury turn as it opens.

In The Glass

Veltlín 2022 begins with citrus and pear, then brings pepper and an oxidative note from its time under flor in untopped oak. The palate is dry, with acidity carrying the fruit through a textured middle and a savoury finish. The flor and old barrel work add shape without making the wine read as sweet or overtly oaky.

Fred shows another side of the cellar: fruit on the nose and palate, then more savoury development around its texture. Porta changes the experience again. Its Welschriesling and Grüner Veltliner fruit is carried through skin contact, so tannin and grip become part of the white-grape flavour rather than an afterthought. Together, these wines move from citrus and pepper to red fruit and skin-derived texture without abandoning their regional grape base.

A Bottle To Understand It

Choose Veltlín 2022 first. It is a dry Grüner Veltliner under its local name, Veltlínske zelené, and its six to eight months under flor in untopped 300-litre Zemplén oak barrels give the bottle a clearly documented cellar shape. Citrus, pear and pepper arrive with oxidative savouriness; acidity keeps the palate moving, while the barrel ageing adds texture rather than a heavy oak flavour. It brings village grape, open-minded cellar work and a specific vintage into one glass.

Anecdote

Sütó removed the metal trellising in his vineyards and replaced it with stakes made from local wood. The change did not make the work easier. Harvesting became more difficult, and the vines carried a greater risk of rot than they had under the metal system. The choice was made in the rows rather than at the bottling line: each vine was given a wooden support drawn from the area around Strekov. Those stakes remain a visible part of the estate’s vineyard work, with the extra labour and the rot risk still attached to the way the vines are trained.

Final Word

Strekov 1075 is worth seeking for wines that make regional Slovak grapes and a Danube-side village tangible. Start with Veltlín for dry citrus, pear, pepper and flor-aged texture; move to Porta when skin-contact grip is the draw, or Fred for red fruit with a savoury finish.

Sources

Open Strekov 1075 in the interactive map →