Taste Testing Bastian Wolber's Region Trotting Burgundy, Beaujolais & Alsace Laisse Tomber Wines: Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Riesling & Gamay
Effortlessly charming and almost surprising laidback is how many have described Bastian Wolber, a fast rising vigneron whose practice and wines perfectly encapsulates the maker himself. Bearing the name Laisse Tomber, which can be taken to mean "let it fall" or "let it go", Bastian's wines are immediately distinctive for their labels featuring the dramatic moment in which a man is tossed off his horse, a nod to the two things that have proved pivotal to shaping his journey thus far, as we'll find out.
Growing up in the town of Staufen in Germany's Baden region - the country's third largest winegrowing area that runs parallel to Alsace just across the Rhine River, and one that is known locally for its Spatburgunder (or Pinot Noir) that is predominantly farmed by the region's cooperatives, although remains largely overlooked internationally - Bastian would attend Rudolph Steiner schools that emphasised creative expression and holistic learning, encouraging children to experience and try as much as they could whilst also eschewing the need for grades and quantifiable measures of success or failure - the attempt alone was what mattered. As Bastian cites, this formative part of his childhood would set him up with the confidence and openness he needed to venture into new and completely unknown fields. He would subsequently sought to challenge himself by taking on a degree in Economics and German Tax Law, and would later work in that domain for several years.
Bastian (right) and Christoph Wolber (left).
Nevertheless, Bastian would constantly find himself unfulfilled, and on a particular trip to visit his younger brother Christoph, who had by then fully devoted himself to learning winemaking and was apprenticing in Burgundy after being struck by a stroke of inspiration upon having tasted a bottle of wine from Bernard van Berg, would too find his own wonderment in a bottle of wine, this time from the Jura legend Ganevat, which the brothers shared at Beaune's La Dilettante. It's worth prefacing that neither brothers, Bastian nor Christoph, had set out wanting to make wines, having come from a non-winemaking family; their mother was in fact a horse riding instructor (hence the horse on Laisse Tomber's labels!). Christoph would later go on to establish the rising Baden star winery Wasenhaus together with Alex Götze whom he had met along the Burgundy apprenticeship trails, having shared a flat together in Meursault. Wasenhaus would in the subsequent ten years since create a veritable name for itself, best known for hunting down forgotten vineyards containing old vines of lost clones that pre-date the industrial winemaking movement that had geared itself for efficiency over quality.
And so, following down the path that his younger brother Christoph took, Bastian would too go out in search of avenues to learn winemaking. This first landed Bastian at the legendary biodynamic pioneering estate Domaine Leflaive, followed thereafter by stints at Mosel's Rudolph Trossen and Alsace's Jean-Marc Dreyer. By 2019, Bastian's dream would become reality when he was offered an apprenticeship with none other than Jura great Ganevat. Yet, things would take a gut-wrenching turn when a skateboarding accident left Bastian with a broken hand. Unable to complete his apprenticeship, Bastian would try and figure an alternative that would allow him to continue on his winemaking journey. This would ultimately precipitate the creation of his own label, Laisse Tomber ("let it fall"), and completes what is depicted on Bastian's labels - Bastian's fateful fall!
Making the most of what he had at the time, Bastian would begin purchasing organically farmed fruit from Baden and Burgundy, which he then vinified at his brother's Wasenhaus cellar. Yet as his outturn at the time remained too small for it to demand his full attention, Bastian would decide to make another go at learning more about winemaking by enrolling in oenology courses at the Universite de Bourgogne in Dijon, whilst at the same time working under the legendary Jean-Yves Bizot, which Bastian still rotates between today alongside his growing negociant Laisse Tomber label. The following year, Bastian would also move into a shared cellar in Auxey-Duresses, which proved formative as he would spend time with fellow rising vignerons, Morgane Seuillot and Christian Knott (of Domaine Dandelion), Jonathan Purcell (of Vin Noé) and Chris Santini (of Santini Freres). He would also take full advantage of being a negoce and purchase fruits from everywhere from Baden to Burgundy, Alsace to Beaujolais, plying his skills with varietals that include Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Aligote, Gamay, Mondeuse, Pinot Blanc, Spatburgunder, Riesling, Sylvaner, Muscat and more - every region between France and Germany became his hunting ground! Bastian thus produces wines that range from single varietal to field blends, with also wines that adhere to the Burgundian system running from regional to village and single vineyard premier cru.
With now over half a decade under his own label, Bastian had steadily concretised his domaine. He would acquire 2 hectares of vines which he farms - 1 hectare owned and the other hectare leased - spread across a parcel of Pinot Noir in the Cote Chalonnaise (which he acquired in 2020) and three more parcels in Baden (acquired in 2021). He would also move into his own cellar in Volnay, with now a small estate above Pousse d'Or.
Winemaking at Laisse Tomber is characterised as minimal intervention, organic farming (his own plots are biodynamic), whole cluster fermentations, with the use of carbonic maceration and minimal to no sulphur. Once getting his hands on the fruit, the white fruits are crushed with a horizontal press and allowed to settle overnight and decanted before undergoing spontaneous fermentation and subsequent ageing for 22-30 months in used barrels with no fining, filtration or sulphur upon bottling. The reds are first covered under carbon dioxide for the first 1-2 days, before being vertical pressed 100% whole cluster with a 10-14 day spontaneous fermentation taking place in steel or old wood tanks with minimal extraction where the cap is wet using buckets and the fruit undergoes light foot treading towards the end of the fermentation. It is then aged for 10-24 months in used barrels, with no fining or filtration, and predominantly no added sulphur since the 2024 vintage unless in exceptional circumstances.
And so with that said, let's get down to tasting a selection of Bastian Wolber's Laisse Tomber wines!
Let's go!
Wine Review: Bastian Wolber Laisse Tomber Bourgogne Blanc
100% Chardonnay.
The hand harvested fruit comes from limestone plots that hold 50-60 year old vines in the Cote Chalonnaise that are farmed organically and biodynamically. The fruit is cooled overnight and then slow pressed whole cluster, before being allowed to settle overnight. It's fermented with natural yeasts in oak barrels and aged for 18 months on the lees in barrel, with then a 2 week assemblage in tanks before being bottled unfined and unfiltered with no sulphur.
This is the 2023 vintage.
Tasting Notes
Colour: Straw
Aroma: Immediately exotic with an array of spices and tropical fruits wrapped around by a rustic envelope. Peaches, quinces, candied pineapples, garnished with cardamom and saffron, that's then covered over by a funkiness of animal hide, hay and freshly tilled soil. It has a creamy quality to it, with then more earthiness by way of cigar boxes and tobacco, with also a more savoury and crunchy, vegetal bit of rhubarb and bruised apples, underscored by a crystalline minerality.
Taste: Medium-bodied, plush, supple and rich, it strikes a candied note of musky fruits of jackfruits, quince, pineapples, and also more savoury bruised apples and peaches. It's rather rustic, with funky tones of barnyard, animal hide and freshly tilled soil, yet topped with exotic spices of cardamom and saffron. The acidity here is bright and delicate, really polished.
Finish: Creamy still, with muskiness of jackfruits and bruised apples and vine peaches, here alittle more waxy and resinous of agarwood. The really sensual spices of cardamom and saffron persists, as thus the animal hide and hay rusticity. Clean, seamless finish.
My Thoughts
To call this unusual would be the least interesting bit about it! It's really eclectic and hard to pinpoint, and in that sense makes for an incredibly engaging wine that is at once tasty and yet compels you to take notice of it. It's rustic, spiced, musky with also a slight but balanced oxidative quality to it, matched by a fresh and polished acidity, that is all topped with an immense perfume. It's sensual and exotic, almost playfully elusive, yet commands such presence. It's almost like it's well-made in the most mind boggling sense - call it a Picasso, really. It's not for everyone and can be alittle divisive, and yet has so much character and would make such a fun blind wine, and also for that matter, a really perfect match for spiced foods or sushi. This wine has range!
Wine Review: Bastian Wolber Laisse Tomber Beaune 1er Cru
100% Pinot Noir, Beaune 1er Cru Les Epenottes.
The organic fruit here comes from vines planted in the 1970's over stony, well drained soils. The fruit was vertically pressed 100% whole cluster with a 10-14 day native yeast fermentation and semi carbonic maceration in steel and wood tanks with minimal extraction. No punch downs or pump overs with just buckets used to wet the cap and light foot treading nearing the end of the fermentation. The wine is then aged for 10-22 months in used barrels with no fining or filtering with also no sulphur added upon bottling.
This is the 2024 vintage.
Tasting Notes
Colour: Deep Garnet
Aroma: Opens crunchy with tart cherries, cranberries and hawthorn, waft of smoke and a touch of barnyard, with elements of freshly tilled soil and animal hide. It's garnished then with violet florals, with an undercurrent of crisp and creamy mineral spring water.
Taste: Medium-bodied here, it's creamy and textured, with the fine tannin grains showing through. Atop are the tart red fruits of cranberries, hawthorn and cherries, mixed in with some tobacco alongside rose petals and crushed violets. The acidity is bright yet light, with then a prominent minerality that pads the fruited top layer. A slight bit of hammy meatiness outlines the body with a savoury umaminess.
Finish: It all comes together now, mineral, meaty, those crunchy red fruits, the tobacco, still really creamy and textured with those oak grains. Grippy finish.
My Thoughts
The carbonic maceration certainly shows, this feels vibrant, lifted and really fresh and forward, yet retains a good creaminess and texture that provides for a good contrast. The flavours are well saturated and really evocative, here showing a charming yet restrained rusticity. This is perky and zingy, with still a measured sensibility that keeps it really approachable and a good mix of drinkability and appeal - it's fun and doesn't get boring. It actually shows a whole lot of understated complexity, even as it demonstrates a stronger hand of its vigneron. Well executed!
Wine Review: Bastian Wolber Laisse Tomber Blanc Sur Schistes Riesling
100% Riesling, Bernardville, Alsace.
This Riesling comes from the schist soils of Alsace's Bernardville, sitting at the top of the slope with some 400m of altitude. The vines here are around 40 years old and are farmed biodynamically. During harvest, a team from Baden handpicks the fruit and then transports it to Bastian's cellar in Volnay via a refrigerated truck, where upon it is chilled overnight and then crushed and pressed with a basket press for 2-3 hours and decanted. It undergoes spontaneous fermentation and after which the wine is aged for 18-24 months in used oak barrels. It is finally racked and blended in tank for 2 weeks with then no fining, filtration or sulphur added upon bottling.
This is the 2023 vintage.
Tasting Notes
Colour: Straw
Aroma: Waxy, resinous and exotic, it leads with scents of agarwood, cardamom, saffron spices and purple florals, that's then backed up by heaps of baked apples with creamy undertones. Incredible perfume that then brings an added element of rusticity, giving it a slight funkiness of animal hide, hay and barnyard. Evocative and pastoral, wrapped up around a core of apple sauce with a mineral slate and spring water undercurrent.
Taste: Medium-bodied, plush, creamy and rich, soft tones of baked apples, candied and so supple, topped with cardamom and crushed violets. It strikes a really exotic character, really elegant as well, with this bright yet softened acidity. It's incredibly layered and textured, with spices, barnyard, florals, over a bed of baked apples.
Finish: Really creamy still, candied peaches and juicy ripe peaches and savoury peach fuzz begins to show up massively, still backed up by those gently savoury baked apples, with more in the way of purple florals and exotic spices, of agarwood and lime leaves. Seamless, clean, spiced finish.
My Thoughts
A completely stunning Riesling that trades away linear, laser precision for vibrance and breadth. This breathtaking expression opens the doors to a whole other world of what Riesling could be - and everyone knows Riesling to be the most versatile grape yet much of what is made tends towards a familiar profile, this is nothing like that. It's immediately exotic and characteristically spiced as have all of Laisse Tomber's wines proven, it's incredibly evocative with this beautifully pure rusticity, and then on the palate is this absolutely beautiful layering and suppleness of all those overtones stacked one atop the other. It's so well composed and with such effortless detail, only to develop even more into the finish with all manners of peaches, before then finally coalescing once again to a seamless, spiced finish.
Wine Review: Bastian Wolber Laisse Tomber Gamay Sur Granit
100% Gamay, Beaujeu, southern Beaujolais.
The Gamay here comes from vines planted in 1935 and 1972, grown on granite soils in Beaujeu, located in southern Beaujolais, with an altitude of 350m. The fruit is grown organically and biodynamically, and is vinified 100% whole cluster, with a 10-14 day spontaneous fermentation along with semi-carbonic maceration in steel and wood tanks. Extraction is minimal with no pump overs or punch downs, with the cap only wetted with buckets and light foot treading used towards the end of fermentation. It is then aged for 10-22 months in used barrels with no fining, filtration or sulphur added upon bottling.
This is the 2024 vintage.
Tasting Notes
Colour: Deep Garnet
Aroma: Super funky, this goes through the roof! It's giving freshly tilled soil, animal hide, it's loads of barnyard with a good bit of smokiness too. Underneath is a lighter touch of crunchy red fruits of cranberries and hawthorns, with a strain of mineral spring water and a side of purple florals.
Taste: Medium-bodied, the funkiness is present but much more subtle here. The red fruits instead take the fore with cranberries, cherries and hawthorns. It's creamy with also a hammy meaty salinity and some cardamom spice. The rusticity is softer with still that bit of barnyard, soil and animal hide, with then an undercurrent of minerality beneath. The acidity here is bright and delicate, with the tannins fine grained.
Finish: The funkiness begins to make a return now, with more smokiness and barnyard, although peaks at being equal parts with the cardamom spices, meatiness, red currants and purple florals. It's creamy and saline, with a prominent meatiness that works through the chalky, powdery finish.
My Thoughts
This was immensely funky, particularly its aromas, which did feel somewhat over the top, with also the meaty savouriness incredibly pronounced and perhaps at times far too salty. Perhaps at the core, it came off alittle unbalanced and sharp, even though it does show merits of that signature exotic spices that Laisse Tomber's wines tend to carry. The palate also demonstrated more restraint and balance, giving us a glimpse of perhaps the wine's true potential. Overall, a bolder and more compacted and concentrated Gamay that has great tension and forwardness.
Kanpai!
@111hotpot
