Stefan Vetter is punk rock. He has done nothing that has even the slightest commercial logic to it. His old friend Andreas Adam (of the celebrated Mosel estate A.J. Adam) must shake his head, watching Stefan, like a wild hermit, run himself up into the terraced vineyards of Franconia. Yet from a scant few hectares of old terraced vineyards, Stefan is redefining what Sylvaner can be. These are quite simply the greatest Sylvaners I’ve ever tasted, from anywhere, ever. Stefan is at the forefront of the natural wine movement in Germany. As such, he farms both organically and biodynamically, working only old vines in steep, terraced sites. Pressing is done gently and can take four to six hours. The juice may see a short bit of skin contact, but for the most part it is just moved directly into old barrels. Stefan has bought 300 and 600-liter barrels from Stockinger. During the elevage, the wine is topped off but that’s about it. The wines are bottled without fining or filtering.