In 1985, Olivier Jullien, driven by his youth and passion, decided to restore the Languedoc's little-known terroirs to their former glory. Born into a family of Jonquières winemakers, he converted the family outbuildings into a winery, and founded Mas Jullien. He immediately chose to invest in the Terrasses du Larzac, high plateaux with varied soils of schist, limestone, sandstone and alluvium, still untouched by reputation. With a pioneering spirit, he energized a rapidly changing winegrowing landscape and encouraged a whole generation to rethink southern viticulture.
From the outset, his path has been marked by a quest for meaning and authenticity: trained in the family vineyards, Olivier Jullien aims to extract from the Languedoc a pure expression of soil and climate. He adopts biodynamic practices and rejects the logic of industrial yields. Each indigenous grape variety is planted where it feels best, with the ambitious aim of defending the terroir's biodiversity. Yield control, hand harvesting, plot-by-plot selection: everything is done to respect the integrity of the fruit and the complexity of the environment. Certified organic until 2006, the wine estate then opted to forgo certification to retain the freedom to modulate its practices. Today, even without the label, its practices remain rooted in organic viticulture and biodynamics, respecting soil health and biological diversity, without commercial yeasts or chemical inputs.
These exacting methods combine technical rigor and freedom of expression to produce wines of purity and depth. The winemaking process favors indigenous yeasts, slow maceration and ageing in foudre or demi-muid, without filtration or superfluous fining. The idea is to reveal, without ever standardizing, over several vintages, the truth of the place and of the native grape varieties: black or white Carignan, Mourvèdre, black and white Grenache, Cinsault, Syrah... and Chenin, an unusual variety in the Languedoc, chosen for its tension and ability to reveal the limestone soils of Larzac.
Mas Jullien is a model in the Languedoc landscape, recognized for having launched the quality wave in the Terrasses du Larzac. Its reputation extends beyond the region's borders: critics, sommeliers and wine lovers alike praise the authenticity, precision and elegance of its wines. Olivier Jullien is also seen as an inspiration for other wine estates such as Les Vignes Oubliées and Mas Cal Demoura.
Among his emblematic cuvées, Mas Jullien blanc features Carignan Blanc cohabiting with a variable blend of Grenache blanc, Clairette, Roussanne and Chenin, bringing tension and finesse unusual in the region. Its delicate minerality, southern aromatic intensity and satiny texture promise remarkable longevity.
Autour de Jonquières is the emblematic red cuvée: a precise, harmonious blend of Mourvèdre, Carignan and Syrah, aged for two years, which combines depth, freshness and aromatic intensity. Carlan, made from young vines on schist soils, stands out for its fruitiness, suppleness on the palate and accessibility in the early years. The rarer Les États d'Âme is a deliberately refined cuvée with a fluid, easy-to-digest profile, born of a partnership with neighboring winemakers who share the same growing ethic. Finally, Lous Rougeos, from very old vines rooted in a high-altitude terroir, offers dense structure, impressive ageing potential and a striking mineral signature.
Each bottle signed Olivier Jullien embodies his philosophy: wine is born of the alliance between soil, grape variety and winemaker. It bears witness to meticulous vine-growing, attentive winemaking and a subtle balance between power and precision, energy and elegance. His approach has changed attitudes in the Terrasses du Larzac, helping to propel the Languedoc to the status of a benchmark wine-growing region. With Mas Jullien, he has highlighted the ability of both white and red grape varieties to embody their terroir, and demonstrated that complexity and ageing potential can emerge where they were least expected.
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