Aromas of ripe stone fruit and melon introduce the 2019 Rully Blanc, a medium to full-bodied, fat and fleshy wine with a rich core of fruit and tangy acids. It's marked by the extremes of the vintage.

The 2016 Rully Blanc comes from grapes at the top of the plateau where the soil is more chalky and includes around 15% new oak. It has an open-knit bouquet with just a touch of orange peel and melon, nicely defined if not overly complex. The palate is balanced with soft, brioche-tinged citrus fruit and a rather “fluffy” finish that just needs to forage more delineation.

The 2015 Rully Blanc sees a modest 15% new oak. It has a fragrant, light white peach, country meadow and a touch of cold steel. The palate is fresh on the entry with good weight, a pleasing fatness here with attractive peach and fresh pear notes, a pleasant salinity towards the brisk and breezy finish. It might lack a bit of substance, but it has satisfactory freshness and should drink well for 3-5 years.

The 2014 Rully Blanc has a really quite lovely nose with hints of white chocolate infusing the citrus fruit. The palate is fresh on the entry with crisp lime and lemon zest, nicely balanced and lively. Recommended.

The 2009 Rully is an attractive, entry-level wine with good fleshiness and brightness in its fruit. White flowers add lift and freshness on the taut finish. This is a tasty, value-priced offering from Drouhin. Anticipated maturity: 2012+. I tasted the 2009s with Jerome Faure-Brac, Drouhin’s head winemaker. Interestingly, Faure-Brac chose to serve these wines a touch on the warm side, so I could observe their strengths and weaknesses more clearly. It was a high stakes move, especially in a warm vintage. I am not sure I would have had the guts to make that decision, but it speaks of great conviction….and the wines came through beautifully. The 2009 harvest began on September 21st, quite late for the year. New oak levels were down sharply, malos were blocked on a number of wines and the estate did no batonnage. The wines were racked once prior to being bottled.Importer: Dreyfus Ashby & Co., New York, NY; tel. (212) 818-0770