Erik & Julien, Mas Zenitude

The Impact:

⛰️ Scale: 7.5 Hectares

🤝 Human Impact: 2-person

🌱 Philosophy: Certified Organic and Vins Nature

🌳 Biodiversity: Biodynamic garden
Sunset over Mas Zenitude vineyard with rows of grapevines and a clear sky.
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Mas Zenitude Julien Beluche holding a bottle of natural wine with a blurred background

The Story

In 2009, Erik Gabrielson took over Mas Farran to create Mas Zénitude, quickly committing to organic and biodynamic farming to produce wines without additives. When I joined the adventure in 2022, my mission was clear: to continue and honour the incredible work Erik started, both in the vines and the cellar. Today, we farm 7.5 hectares around the beautiful village of Saint-Jean-de-Fos, where our soils—a mix of clay, silt, and sand over limestone gravel—allow our traditional Languedoc varietals to truly shine.

For us, the real winemaking happens in the vineyard through gentle pruning, green fertilisers, and careful hand-harvesting. In the cellar, we use sandstone and terracotta amphorae to refine the connection between the grape and the plot. If you ask us for a favourite, it’s undoubtedly our "Vent d'Anges" cuvée; it’s made from 100-year-old Carignan vines and captures a perfect balance of elegance, finesse, and fruit.

Looking ahead, our big challenge for 2026 is to push our limits even further by reducing our carbon footprint, ensuring that everything we do supports the "Vivant" (the Living) in its entirety.

Philosophy

Our winemaking philosophy is guided by a single principle: allowing the grapes to transform naturally into wine with minimal intervention. We believe in letting nature take its course without additives. Fermentation occurs spontaneously using indigenous yeasts found on the grape skins, and we add no sulfites during the process or aging—resorting to them only in exceptional cases to prevent oxidation or volatility.

For our reds, we use truncated conical concrete tanks, which encourage gentle maceration and avoid the need for heavy pumping. By keeping the skins in contact with the juice just long enough, we provide the wine with natural protection while extracting bright fruit aromas and achieving a seamless balance between sugar and acidity. Our whites follow a different path: after a short cold maceration and a delicate pressing, the juice is vinified in older oak barrels. This allows the lees to naturally enhance the wine’s complexity and depth.

We are dedicated to producing "wines of character" that express their own personal alchemy. By restoring balance to the vineyard, we create vigorous, authentic wines that reflect their terroir.
Sunset over Mas Zenitude vineyard with rows of grapevines and a clear sky.

The Vineyard: Mas Zenitude

Located in the heart of the Languedoc, 35 km northwest of Montpellier, this 11-hectare estate features 7.5 hectares of organic and biodynamic vineyards. Since 2007, the mission has been to restore environmental vitality, as evidenced by the return of native birds and insects to the land. In 2009, a gravity-fed cellar was built directly into a natural stone circus; the exposed rock walls provide a constant, cool temperature—ideal for fermentation and ageing.

Nestled within the Terrasses du Larzac, a premier Languedoc terroir, the vineyard is sheltered by the limestone cliffs of Larzac and the hills of Aniane. The estate works with traditional varietals, including Carignan, Syrah, and Cinsault, as well as white grapes like Grenache Blanc and Clairette, which were top-grafted onto existing vines. Despite over 300 days of sunshine, the climate is perfectly balanced: winter rains sustain the vines through summer, while warm days and cool night breezes ensure the fruit achieves ideal maturity with a refreshing, balanced acidity.