Stefan Vetter
From a scant few hectares of old vines, working only on terraced vineyards completely by hand, Stefan is reimagining what Sylvaner can be – what the wines of Franconia can be. Stefan is at the forefront of the natural wine movement in Germany. As such, he practices organics and adheres to biodynamic principles as would be expected. Everything here is done by hand. For the most part, Stefan picks earlier, looking for ripe, clean grapes with higher acidities. Pressing is done gently with either an old screw press or a basket press and can take four to six hours. The juice is then moved directly into old barrels or, occasionally, one of the few newer 300 or 600-liter Stockinger barrels. During the élevage, the wines are topped off, but that’s about it. They are bottled without fining or filtering and with a minuscule addition of sulfur for stability. Unlike the dramatic and steep slopes on the Mosel, the feeling in Vetter’s vineyards is more rustic and pastoral. The landscape is more bucolic, with ancient, crumbling terraces nestled quietly and subtly in the hills, surrounded by all manner of wild growth – trees, bushes, orchards, etc. Vines grow here over a base of sandstone and limestone. It’s like the Mosel collided with the Pfalz and spat out Franken.
Size: 3.5 hectares with some purchased organic fruit from their nextdoor neighbor for the basic Müller-Thurgau key grape varieties: Sylvaner, Müller-Thurgau, Spätburgunder (Pinot Noir), Riesling
Soil: limestone and sandstone vine age: average age of 30 years
Vineyard work: practicing organic and on the edge of biodynamic
Vinification: There is no filtration or fining on any of the wines, the only addition is S02, around 10-20ppm in total. The basic wines and Steinterrassen bottlings are pressed with an old screw press. The GKs, Himmelsücke and other single vineyards are pressed with a basket press. The Sylvaners are all aged in barrel, mainly used ones. The Müller-Thurgau is aged in 50% stainless, 50% old barrels. All newer barrels are from Stockinger.
Village: Gambach
Main vineyard(s): Gambacher Kalbenstein
