Regal, majestic, noble, dignified and graceful. Carlos Lee, owner of Blackwood Lane Winery, explains, “I wanted to make The Presidènt largely to earn the elusive 100 point score. The Referènce scored a 98, so creating The Presidènt was a labour of love for me and an extension of my perfectionist nature, and as the President of Blackwood Lane, I wanted to create a wine that would meet my highest of standards.  Originally, we made The Referènce to set the bar—the standard for all other wines. Now I feel it’s time to release something completely unique.” Mission accomplished!

Spared No Expense

To create The Presidènt, Carlos set aside the very best barrels he had. He explains, “2010 was the last year we sourced the grapes from different vineyards. This wine was made from a vineyard in Osoyoos that was largely made up of rocks and stones. Originally, the owner didn’t really know what to do with the land in this condition, as it was deemed agricultural by the province. That was until someone told him that the best Left Bank wines in France were grown in similarly rocky conditions.

What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Sweeter 

In nature, as in life, struggle often increases value. Diamonds are created through extreme pressure, and gold is purified in fire. It’s this same struggle that helped create Blackwood Lane’s finest wine to date. “Grapes are a hardy bunch,” muses Carlos, “and a vine that struggles produces exquisite fruit. You get fewer grapes, but they are full of flavour and sugar. It’s a survival mechanism, as the plant is saving energy and that energy is stored as sugar. The more struggle, the more the plant wants to store energy, so the fruit tends to be super sweet. The vineyard was full of rocks, but the grapes are of the highest quality.”