OLIVIER COHEN, Languedoc

 Although we at Team SRS usually roll our eyes when a young winemaker is referred to as an "upcoming star," we're starting to think Olivier Cohen is just that. He did a year-long stage with Philippe Valette and we’ve known more than a few Valette stagieres who have all gone on to become really good winemakers. Olivier started making his own wine in 2013 and now has 5 hectares in the the hilly terroir of the Languedoc, fairly close to Montpellier.  He makes all the wines with some level of carbonic maceration, but they don’t come off as overtly carbo but rather taste like pure freshness.