The Skateboard Accident, the Horse That Fell & the Bizot Night Shift
A German who studied tax law, broke his hand on a skateboard at Ganevat, and turned the accident into a Burgundy négoce empire — Bastian Wolber makes whole-cluster carbonic Pinot Noir and Gamay in a Volnay cellar above Pousse d'Or, by day at Jean-Yves Bizot, by night for himself, with a Herman Hesse parable on every label.
Origin — From Tax Law to the Cellar Floor
Bastian Wolber was born in Staufen im Breisgau, in the Black Forest of Germany, and raised in Rudolph Steiner schools until the age of 18. "We sewed and made wood products and were encouraged to give everything a shot," he recalls. "There were no grades, only 'reviews' from teachers. It was super and made me feel confident." But Steiner's creativity was not enough. He wanted something different — so he studied Economics and German Tax Law, a path he would soon discover did not fulfil his desire to create, explore, and connect with nature.
The pivot came through his younger brother, Christoph Wolber, who had moved to Burgundy to work in vines — at Bernard van Berg, Domaine de la Vougeraie, Domaine Leflaive, and Comte Armand. Christoph and his roommate Alex Götze launched Wasenhaus in Baden in 2016, now one of the most respected natural wine estates in Germany. Bastian visited, drank a bottle of Ganevat at La Dilettante in Beaune, and was blown away. "It was alive, it had soul — it made me want to learn more." He began working harvests: Leflaive in 2013, Rudolph Trossen in the Mosel, Jean-Marc Dreyer in Alsace. The urge grew stronger every vintage.
In 2019, he finally landed his dream apprenticeship: Domaine Ganevat in the Jura. But in the middle of harvest, he broke his hand in a skateboard accident and was unable to work in the cellar. "I beat myself up for having messed up such a great opportunity," he says. The injury, however, became his origin story. Unable to continue at Ganevat, he returned to Germany, purchased organically farmed grapes from France and Germany, and vinified them at Wasenhaus. The project needed a name. He called it Laisse Tomber — literally "let it fall." A direct reference to the accident. A wink at fate.
Because 2019's production was too small to live on, Bastian returned to Burgundy to study oenology at the Université de Bourgogne in Dijon — and to work alongside Jean-Yves Bizot, where he still sharpens his craft today. In 2020, he made his wines in Auxey-Duresses, sharing a cellar with Chris Santini (Santini Frères), Jonathan Purcell (Vin Noé), and Morgane Seuillot & Christian Knott (Domaine Dandelion) — the new guard of natural Burgundy. In 2022, he moved into his own winery in Volnay, above Pousse d'Or. That was his first full vintage. Winehog awarded him Flavour of the Year 2023. The accident, it turned out, was not misfortune.
The Place — From Volnay to Beaujolais, via Baden
Bastian's project is deliberately cross-border. He now owns roughly 50% of his vines — split between Pinot Noir and Chardonnay — and sources the rest from organic and biodynamic growers across Burgundy, Alsace, and Germany. His own parcels include a Pinot Noir plot in the Côte Chalonnaise (acquired 2020) and three more in Baden (2021). His winery is in Volnay, but his grapes travel from the southern Beaujolais to the Côte de Nuits.
Volnay — The Home Cellar
Since 2022, Bastian has made wine in a small estate above Pousse d'Or in Volnay — a symbolic address in the heart of the Côte de Beaune. From here he oversees élevage of his Burgundy reds and whites, blending from parcels across the region while building his own vineyard holdings.
Beaujolais — 100-Year-Old Gamay
His Gamay comes from a 100-year-old vineyard in southern Beaujolais on granitic soil at 350 metres — southwest-facing, own-rooted, planted in 1935 and 1972. The parcel is so old and so pure that the wine channels Lapierre's nerve and tension, but with what critics call "German ground" — more civilised, less volatile.
Alsace — Jean-Marc Dreyer's Field Blend
His white wines began with a small plot of 60-year-old coplanted vines belonging to Jean-Marc Dreyer in Alsace — Riesling, Pinot Blanc, Sylvaner, and Muscat, whole-cluster crushed by foot, fermented in half-barrel and glass demijohn. Zero sulfur. "I couldn't out of respect for Jean-Marc who doesn't add sulfur."
Baden — The German Roots
Bastian has not abandoned Germany. In 2021 he acquired three Pinot Noir vineyards in Baden, farmed organically, vinified with the same carbonic rigour he applies in Burgundy. The Spätburgunder is a nod to his origins — German grapes made with Burgundian technique.
Winemaking — German Ground, Burgundian Air
Bastian's style is a synthesis of his two masters: the carbonic precision of Ganevat and the whole-cluster intensity of Bizot. All reds are whole-cluster, semi-carbonic or fully carbonic — cool intracellular fermentation inside the berries, blanketed with CO2, followed by gradual crushing over days, often by foot. This releases floral rose aromas, spicy allspice and cinnamon, and a silky texture that critics describe as "lush yet vivid."
The framework is consistent: ambient yeast fermentation, no fining, no filtration, minimal sulfur — typically around 10 mg/L added only at bottling. There are no pump-overs or punch-downs; the grapes macerate gently in ancient wood harvesting tanks. The whites are pressed in a small vertical press, settled overnight, then fermented and aged in half-barrels, demijohns, or feuillette.
What distinguishes Bastian from other carbonic Burgundians is his German rigour. "Laisse Tomber is on controlled ground, German ground if you like," notes one critic. The wines have the same hedonistic spark as Lapierre or Foillard, but with less volatile acidity, less reduction, and a precision that feels almost clinical — until you taste the joy inside. "They never seek to show off. They favor accuracy, energy, and drinkability, with that sense of quiet mastery found in winemakers who know exactly where they are going."
The Wines — Vins d'Émotion from Modest Terroirs
The range is extensive and vintage-dependent — reds from Burgundy and Baden, whites from Alsace and Burgundy, Gamay from Beaujolais — all made with the same carbonic framework and minimal intervention. These are wines for drinking now or within 5–10 years, not for speculation.
Gamay Sur Granit
Beaujolais redFrom a 100-year-old vineyard in southern Beaujolais on granitic soil at 350m — planted 1935 and 1972. Whole-cluster carbonic maceration. Expressive, vivid, with nerve and tension like Lapierre but more civilised. Floral, spicy, and dangerously drinkable. The surprise of the portfolio.
Passetoutgrain
Gamay / Pinot Noir blendA co-plantation of Gamay and Pinot Noir from century-old granite vineyards — the Gamay from Côte Couchois, the Pinot from the same granitic slope. Fruity, vivid, fine red fruit with moderate volatile acidity. The Gamay brings vivacity; the Pinot adds structure. A hedonistic blast.
Canopée
Bourgogne Rouge100% Pinot Noir from Champs Pourris, clay-rich soil with low drainage. One of the most sought-after cuvées in the range — vivid and lifted, with dark red fruit, spice, and a subtle wildness. Channels the quiet strength of old vines and the clarity of a winemaker who knows exactly what he wants.
Volnay
Village redFrom Les Grands Champs in Volnay — elegant, finely structured, with silky red fruit, poised acidity, fine-grained tannins, and a minerals-driven finish. Whole-cluster carbonic vinification in the heart of the Côte de Beaune. Proof that Bastian can handle village-level terroir with grace.
Bourgogne Blanc
Côte de Beaune white100% Chardonnay from a 0.70ha parcel next to Puligny-Montrachet, on white limestone, vines averaging 50 years. Vinified without artifice, with discreet aging that highlights freshness, purity of fruit, and beautiful mineral structure. Buttery and complex on the nose, salty on the finish.
Aligoté "Les Fas"
Pommard AligotéAligoté from Pommard limestone soils — carefully aged to preserve tension and verticality, in a clean, mouthwatering style perfectly suited to the table. A racy, structured wine that reveals the ambition behind Bastian's white wine project. Limited to one bottle per person at release.
Legacy — The Misfortune That Wasn't
Bastian Wolber matters because he turned a broken hand into a vocation. In a region where careers are built on inherited vineyards and family names, he arrived from Germany with a tax law degree, a skateboard, and a brother who had already claimed the family winemaking mantle. His accident at Ganevat — the dream job lost — could have ended the story. Instead, it became the prologue.
His legacy is the proof that modest terroirs handled with rigour can produce vins d'émotion — wines of hedonistic joy that do not need grand cru vineyards to move the drinker. The carbonic method, learned from Ganevat and refined at Bizot, gives his wines a signature that is unmistakable: floral, spicy, silky, and vivid. But it is the German precision — the controlled volatile acidity, the absence of reduction faults, the quiet mastery — that separates him from the crowd.
Through his cross-border model — owned vines in Burgundy and Baden, purchased grapes from Alsace and Beaujolais — Bastian has also created a template for the modern négoce: not a negociant in the old sense, but a vigneron without borders, farming where he can and sourcing where he must. The label with the falling horse is not merely branding. It is a philosophy. How do you know that this is misfortune? Chunglang smiled.