Spessart actually refers to a region in Germany where high quality Oak logs were found.  Oak grows throughout most of Europe, except for Central and Northern Scandinavia.   Since the late 1990’s we’ve seen a greater supply coming out of the Czech Republic and even further East.

The European Oak tends to have a little deeper color than the US species Quercus Alba, which is more straw / grey.  Currently the most popular method for production is Rift Slicing, as shown in the photo here.