70 年代，Jean Orliac 從蒙彼利埃農學院畢業，熱愛攀岩、高山與荒野。當他發現 Hortus 與 Pic Saint-Loup 懸崖環抱的 Fambétou 谷地，看見那些被遺棄、休耕的碎石斜坡，便直覺這裡蘊藏巨大潛力。憑著滿腔熱情，不求名利，一段傳奇就此展開。
1973 年，他與 Marie-Thérèse 結婚，辭去學者工作，展開釀酒事業。1980 年，他在購入的 50 公頃葡萄園旁建造自己的家，就在 Montagne de l’Hortus 山腳庇蔭之下。
經過十年耕耘與堅持，1990 年推出第一個上市酒款。同時，他創建全木製酒窖，於 1995 年完成。這座酒莊象徵創新與忠於自然，展現「征服者的意志」，不斷釋放風土的潛力。他的旗艦酒迅速在 Pic Saint-Loup 產區獲「特級」(Grand Cru) 地位，成為 Languedoc 的第一。
During the 1970s, Jean Orliac had graduated from Montpellier's Agricultural College. He was a huge lover of rock climbing, high mountains and wild land. Then he discovered the Hortus and Pic Saint Loup cliffs forming a belt around the little Fambétou coomb. All he found were abandoned land parcels and fallow ground, yet it seemed obvious to him that these scree covered slopes had huge potential. Thus it was that with huge enthusiasm, but with hardly a cent to his name, a story was born.
After marrying his wife Marie Thérèse and having left his job in academics, in 1973 the pair threw caution to the wind and Jean began his winemaking career. In 1980 the family built their own house near their recently purchased 50 hectares of vineyard, under the shadow of the Hortus.
It was not until ten years of honing his skills and perfecting his wines had passed that Jean’s staunch commitment to quality allowed him to release the estate’s first commercial vintage release in 1990. By this time construction of their strikingly innovative, entirely wooden winery was underway. Completed in 1995, this winery, representing both innovation and a loyalty to nature, also graphically shows the ‘conqueror’s will’ to harness the potential of their surroundings to fulfil Jean’s compelling winemaking vision. It is therefore unsurprising that the flagship wines of his estate have led the campaign which will soon have the Pic Saint Loup appellation classified as “Grand Cru” status, the first in the Languedoc.
