The Desert Wind âSandstorm Seriesâ is thoughtfully crafted from the best lots of wine of each vintage from our favorite blocks of our Desert Wind Estate Vineyard. We choose the lots that show the most concentration, texture, and length, with the promise of great ageability. Typically shared mostly with wine club members, this low-production, reserve-level series is one you donât want to miss. These wines have been perfectly aged in our cellar and are ready to enjoy now but could also be laid down for another 8-10 years.
2016 Desert Wind Zephyr Red Blend, Sandstorm Series
Tasting Notes
This bright, medium-ruby blend starts beautifully sweet, with pungent scents of raspberry puree, plums, roasted marshmallows, licorice, and a lovely violet lift. Swirling brings dark fruit and a very nice herbal tone in addition to hints of pencil shavings and dark chocolate. The mouthfeel is texturally beautiful and extremely round, with lots of dark fruit and oak spice notes. The wine finishes dry but long, with a distinctive green note. This is a beautifully layered wine that you can drink now or in the next 6-8 years.
Winemaking Notes
The Zephyr is a Bordeaux-style red blend that features six of the traditional Bordeaux varieties. Each variety was fermented separately in open-top bins, then carefully blended and aged for 19 months in French oak, with 40% new barrels.
2016 Desert Wind Cabernet Sauvignon, Sandstorm Series
Double gold medal - Seattle Wine Awards 2020 Double Platinum - Wine Press Northwest Magazine âBest of the Bestâ 2020
Tasting Notes
The deep-ruby 2016 Sandstorm Cabernet Sauvignon begins deep, with precise notes of black raspberry, crème de cassis, mocha, wild herbs, blood orange skin, and floral potpourri. The wine opens rich and dark, with lots of sweet spices, herbs, and mature dark and red fruit. Highly concentrated, energetic, deep, and very long, this Cabernet has firm tannins that are perfectly buffered by the wineâs intensity of fruit. An end-to-end Cabernet that you can enjoy now or in the next 8-10 years.
Winemaking Notes
The 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon was blended with small amounts of Merlot, Petit Verdot, and Malbec to provide extra depth of character and complexity. Each variety was fermented separately in open-top bins, then carefully blended and aged for 18 months in new and neutral French oak barrels.
The medium-purple 2016 Sandstorm Merlot is musky and intense, with notes of cassis, blackberry, bergamot tea, sandalwood, and cocoa powder. The wine opens to riper notes of strawberry jam, fig paste, vanilla, and ripe cherry, almost kirsch aromas. The mouthfeel is medium-bodied and very juicy, with lots of dark fruit and a very nice layer of menthol and cedar spice. This suave Merlot offers good density, with fine-grained tannins, harmonious acidity, and a very creamy finish. Drink now or in the next 6-8 years.
Winemaking Notes
The 2016 Merlot was blended with small amounts of Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, and Malbec to provide additional complexity. Each variety was fermented separately in open-top bins, then carefully blended and aged for 18 months in new and neutral French oak barrels.
The Wahluke Slope AVA is located in south-central Washington and is considered one of the warmer regions in the state. Our 480-acre Desert Wind Estate Vineyard is south-facing, with a gradual two percent slope ranging from 800 to 1,000 feet in elevation. The deep, rocky soil allows for excellent drainage, stressing the vines and allowing focused energy on fruit production. The resulting wines are highly pigmented and have an excellent tannin structure.
Whatâs Included
3-bottles:
1x 2016 Desert Wind Zephyr Red Blend, Sandstorm Series
1x 2016 Desert Wind Cabernet Sauvignon, Sandstorm Series
1x 2016 Desert Wind Merlot, Sandstorm Series
Case:
4x 2016 Desert Wind Zephyr Red Blend, Sandstorm Series
4x 2016 Desert Wind Cabernet Sauvignon, Sandstorm Series
Desert Wind is an immersive wine, food, and entertainment destination in the heart of Washington Wine Country, dedicated to producing world-class wines that celebrate our estate vineyards in the Wahluke Slope AVA. Our southwest-inspired estate is perched on a bluff overlooking the Yakima River in Prosser, Washington, and boasts a large tasting room, overnight accommodations, light kitchen fare, spa services, and ample private event space. Desert Windâs legacy and acclaimed wines are rooted in family and our sun soaked Wahluke Slope AVA estate vineyard. Our philosophy on winemaking is simple: Start with grapes that show terrific potential and craft smooth, friendly, world-class wines you can drink every day. Weâve grown a lot since our first vines were planted in 1993, but one thing remains the same - our commitment to creating experiences that bring people together.
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
This arrived last week - delightfully early even with UPS losing it for a day en route, and we decided it needed some red meat to go with it. Cue a lamb rackâŚyum!
First glass @ 6:45pm
When I pulled out the nice long cork, it was immediately clear there was plenty of sediment on the cork and in the neck. After cleaning out the neck I poured the first couple tastes through a fine mesh wine strainer to catch additional tartrate - this turned out to be a good move.
On to the wine! The aromas immediately popped out of the bottle with a delightful plum. On pouring the first tastes it retained the plum but added in other ingredients, the most prominent of which is vanilla/butterscotch/oak. At this point it reminded me of the 2014 Bell Cabernet, which I found remarkably oaky.
First sips are, thankfully, less obviously oaky than the nose at this point. Fresh fruit, plenty of density, nice acidity, and while itâs obvious thereâs a bunch more going on itâs hard for me to pinpoint anything immediately. The finish is also a nice length.
As this sat in the glass for 25 minutes the oak seemed to integrate a bit better and become more of a voice in the choir rather than trying to overpower. This, to me, bodes well for this wineâs future prospects. Further swirling and sniffing brings out more of the herbal characteristics, led by mint and maybe rosemary. The palate is getting more fruity and less oaky as well. All good signs, imo, for a wine that was too oaky for me on opening.
Glass #2 - 8:00pm
Yeah, getting the kids into bed can take time! Glass two started out with the same oaky impression as the first, but the time slowly getting air in the bottle meant that it shed that overt oak more quickly and settled into a smoother and more easy drinking version of itself while still keeping much of its personality. Although as this glass wore on, although the aromas kept their herbal interest, the palate got a bit more generic. Finish remains long, maybe getting longer than before, and everything else seems to be integrating nicely. I sure hope this wine doesnât collapse by the end of the bottle!
OK, after this we stopped the more meticulous note-taking and just enjoyed this with our rack of lamb. It was a good pairing, with neither the wine nor the meat overpowering the other. The wine never firmed up as I thought it would with air. Instead the tannins just stayed soft and silky, strangely enough. Iâm not sure what that means for the ageability of this wine. It never collapsed as I feared it might, but itâs hard to say it will go another decade.
Seeing the SRP and CM pricing Iâd say this is a good to great value at the case price, depending on your stylistic preferences. You can certainly drink this now, but if your tastes lean to less oak-forward wines youâll want to let this sleep for a year or three to see what happens or be sure to give it a bit of air. If youâre a case buyer, it would definitely be worth the experiment of letting a bottle of this sleep until 2030 or beyond and see if itâs blossomed or fallen apart.
And of course, thank you to WD and Alice for sending a bottle our way. Itâs always a fun âjobâ!
@kaolis Itâs never a bad choice! I forgot to take an âafterâ picture. It was rare-medium rare throughout after 20 minutes at 425°F. We forgot to save some wine for a day 2 taste since they just went together that easily.
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: tax and shipping are not included in savings calculations).
2016 Desert Wind âSandstorm Seriesâ Mixed Reds - $100 = 24.99%
The bottle of 2016 Sandstorm Series Merlot from Desert Wind arrived Friday night due to weather delays. I was very excited to receive a bottle to review right before the holiday. We decided that it would be a perfect bottle for our Christmas Eve dinner. We opened the bottle to have a little taste when we began preparing the steaks. The nose was beautiful, blackberry and vanilla. I poured a little bit to taste before our meal. The first sip was very nice, hints of berry that was on the nose came out in that first sip. The color was a deep rich red. We let the bottle sit while we finished preparing dinner. The wine paired beautifully with our NY strips. The wine was robust and complex. With dinner I was getting still getting the blackberry, but added to that were hints of chocolate and tobacco. The mouth feel was silky. I highly recommend this wine.
Owners noted above (Lawrences own GĂĽrd btw) bought the winery in 2021, this was produced by Fries Family Wines. A little blurb here
Reverse Wine Snob offered a 2 pack earlier this month, the Cabernet and Merlot, for $60. Had this to say about the Merlot:
âŚopens with a very attractive and enticing aroma of blackberry, cedar, baking spice and licorice. It only takes one sip to know this is a truly great example of Washington State Merlot. Smooth, extremely tasty, and a bit chewy the wine offers more dark fruit, which is juicy in the mouth, along with touches of cocoa, black tea and a little tobacco. This one also has great structure and balance and a smooth, silky mouthfeel. It ends dry, very long and a bit grippy and was very similar on day two."
and the Cab from rws:
ââŚopens with a very pleasing aroma of ripe dark berry fruit, lovely vanilla and sweet spice, and touches of tobacco and graphite. Itâs a wonderful start. The wine tastes absolutely lovely, offering great structure, excellent balance and lots of very well integrated spice throughout. With a smooth, silky mouthfeel and similar flavors to the nose, this is super delicious. It does benefit from a little time to breathe - it opens up magnificently after a couple hours - so plan appropriately if you are drinking it soon.
It ends dry, very long, and juicy with lingering touches of spice, vanilla, tobacco and more. It was just as good on day two.â
SavorNW tasted the Cab:
Seamless, beautifully structured and balanced, this Cabernet Sauvignon is a Bordeaux style blend with 19% Merlot, 3% Petit Verdot and 2% Malbec. Lovely aromas are complex with notes of dark berry jam, cedar, sweet tobacco, black peppercorn, Allspice and dried herbs. It offers a luscious mouthfeel with flavors of black raspberry displaying lively acidity before revealing notes of finely ground espresso and a lengthy finish with flavors alluding to cocoa, baking spice and just a hint of graphite. Gary Hayes 1/21
Hello! Yes, thatâs correct - my husband and I own Gard Vintners and purchased Desert Wind Winery in 2021 together with the Merkle family, who we also have vineyards with, as well. This Sandstorm vintage was produced before we took over the vineyards and winery. These are some of my favorite Desert Wind wines, and we are happy to extend on offer on Casemates for them. Thanks for checking it out! ~ Lisa
Greetings from Desert Wind! We are excited to offer up our Sandstorm series on Casemates! You may have seen me here before - I am Lisa Lawrence with Gard Vintners. Together with the Merkle family, my husband Josh and I purchased Desert Wind vineyards in 2020 and Desert Wind Winery in 2021. Happy to answer any questions today, and will be checking in. Cheers! ~ Lisa
@Pagefault So glad you found us! Weâre proud to source 100% from our Desert Wind Estate Vineyard in the Wahluke Slope.
After youâve taken advantage of this fabulous deal, be sure to check out our website to see our other current releases. I recommend our flagship red blend - âRuah,â the Cabernet Sauvignon/Syrah, or the Malbec!
About the Sandstorm Series
2016 Desert Wind Zephyr Red Blend, Sandstorm Series
Tasting Notes
Winemaking Notes
Specs
2016 Desert Wind Cabernet Sauvignon, Sandstorm Series
Double gold medal - Seattle Wine Awards 2020
Double Platinum - Wine Press Northwest Magazine âBest of the Bestâ 2020
Tasting Notes
Winemaking Notes
Specs
2016 Desert Wind Merlot, Sandstorm Series
Tasting Notes
Winemaking Notes
Specs
Vineyard Notes
Whatâs Included
3-bottles:
Case:
Price Comparison
$960.00/Case for 4x 2016 Desert Wind Zephyr Red Blend, Sandstorm Series + 4x 2016 Desert Wind Cabernet Sauvignon, Sandstorm Series + 4x 2016 Desert Wind Merlot, Sandstorm Series at Desert Wind Winery
About The Winery
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
Estimated Delivery
Monday, Jan 23 - Wednesday, Jan 25
Desert Wind âSandstorm Seriesâ Mixed Reds
3 bottles for $99.99 $33.33/bottle + $2.67/bottle shipping
Case of 12 for $299.99 $25/bottle + $1/bottle shipping
2016 Desert Wind Zephyr Red Blend
2016 Desert Wind Cabernet Sauvignon
2016 Desert Wind Merlot
2016 Desert Wind Cabernet Sauvignon
Sandstorm Series, Estate Grown, Wahluke Slope
76% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Merlot, 3% Petit Verdot, 2% Malbec
14.5% ABV, 120 cases produced
This arrived last week - delightfully early even with UPS losing it for a day en route, and we decided it needed some red meat to go with it. Cue a lamb rackâŚyum!
First glass @ 6:45pm
When I pulled out the nice long cork, it was immediately clear there was plenty of sediment on the cork and in the neck. After cleaning out the neck I poured the first couple tastes through a fine mesh wine strainer to catch additional tartrate - this turned out to be a good move.
On to the wine! The aromas immediately popped out of the bottle with a delightful plum. On pouring the first tastes it retained the plum but added in other ingredients, the most prominent of which is vanilla/butterscotch/oak. At this point it reminded me of the 2014 Bell Cabernet, which I found remarkably oaky.
First sips are, thankfully, less obviously oaky than the nose at this point. Fresh fruit, plenty of density, nice acidity, and while itâs obvious thereâs a bunch more going on itâs hard for me to pinpoint anything immediately. The finish is also a nice length.
As this sat in the glass for 25 minutes the oak seemed to integrate a bit better and become more of a voice in the choir rather than trying to overpower. This, to me, bodes well for this wineâs future prospects. Further swirling and sniffing brings out more of the herbal characteristics, led by mint and maybe rosemary. The palate is getting more fruity and less oaky as well. All good signs, imo, for a wine that was too oaky for me on opening.
Glass #2 - 8:00pm
Yeah, getting the kids into bed can take time! Glass two started out with the same oaky impression as the first, but the time slowly getting air in the bottle meant that it shed that overt oak more quickly and settled into a smoother and more easy drinking version of itself while still keeping much of its personality. Although as this glass wore on, although the aromas kept their herbal interest, the palate got a bit more generic. Finish remains long, maybe getting longer than before, and everything else seems to be integrating nicely. I sure hope this wine doesnât collapse by the end of the bottle!
OK, after this we stopped the more meticulous note-taking and just enjoyed this with our rack of lamb. It was a good pairing, with neither the wine nor the meat overpowering the other. The wine never firmed up as I thought it would with air. Instead the tannins just stayed soft and silky, strangely enough. Iâm not sure what that means for the ageability of this wine. It never collapsed as I feared it might, but itâs hard to say it will go another decade.
Seeing the SRP and CM pricing Iâd say this is a good to great value at the case price, depending on your stylistic preferences. You can certainly drink this now, but if your tastes lean to less oak-forward wines youâll want to let this sleep for a year or three to see what happens or be sure to give it a bit of air. If youâre a case buyer, it would definitely be worth the experiment of letting a bottle of this sleep until 2030 or beyond and see if itâs blossomed or fallen apart.
And of course, thank you to WD and Alice for sending a bottle our way. Itâs always a fun âjobâ!
Lamb rack waiting for the oven alongside a tasty wine!
@klezman Need to put a rack in the queueâŚ
@kaolis Itâs never a bad choice! I forgot to take an âafterâ picture. It was rare-medium rare throughout after 20 minutes at 425°F. We forgot to save some wine for a day 2 taste since they just went together that easily.
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: tax and shipping are not included in savings calculations).
2016 Desert Wind âSandstorm Seriesâ Mixed Reds - $100 = 24.99%
The bottle of 2016 Sandstorm Series Merlot from Desert Wind arrived Friday night due to weather delays. I was very excited to receive a bottle to review right before the holiday. We decided that it would be a perfect bottle for our Christmas Eve dinner. We opened the bottle to have a little taste when we began preparing the steaks. The nose was beautiful, blackberry and vanilla. I poured a little bit to taste before our meal. The first sip was very nice, hints of berry that was on the nose came out in that first sip. The color was a deep rich red. We let the bottle sit while we finished preparing dinner. The wine paired beautifully with our NY strips. The wine was robust and complex. With dinner I was getting still getting the blackberry, but added to that were hints of chocolate and tobacco. The mouth feel was silky. I highly recommend this wine.
Owners noted above (Lawrences own GĂĽrd btw) bought the winery in 2021, this was produced by Fries Family Wines. A little blurb here
Reverse Wine Snob offered a 2 pack earlier this month, the Cabernet and Merlot, for $60. Had this to say about the Merlot:
âŚopens with a very attractive and enticing aroma of blackberry, cedar, baking spice and licorice. It only takes one sip to know this is a truly great example of Washington State Merlot. Smooth, extremely tasty, and a bit chewy the wine offers more dark fruit, which is juicy in the mouth, along with touches of cocoa, black tea and a little tobacco. This one also has great structure and balance and a smooth, silky mouthfeel. It ends dry, very long and a bit grippy and was very similar on day two."
and the Cab from rws:
ââŚopens with a very pleasing aroma of ripe dark berry fruit, lovely vanilla and sweet spice, and touches of tobacco and graphite. Itâs a wonderful start. The wine tastes absolutely lovely, offering great structure, excellent balance and lots of very well integrated spice throughout. With a smooth, silky mouthfeel and similar flavors to the nose, this is super delicious. It does benefit from a little time to breathe - it opens up magnificently after a couple hours - so plan appropriately if you are drinking it soon.
It ends dry, very long, and juicy with lingering touches of spice, vanilla, tobacco and more. It was just as good on day two.â
SavorNW tasted the Cab:
Seamless, beautifully structured and balanced, this Cabernet Sauvignon is a Bordeaux style blend with 19% Merlot, 3% Petit Verdot and 2% Malbec. Lovely aromas are complex with notes of dark berry jam, cedar, sweet tobacco, black peppercorn, Allspice and dried herbs. It offers a luscious mouthfeel with flavors of black raspberry displaying lively acidity before revealing notes of finely ground espresso and a lengthy finish with flavors alluding to cocoa, baking spice and just a hint of graphite. Gary Hayes 1/21
fwiw
@kaolis
Hello! Yes, thatâs correct - my husband and I own Gard Vintners and purchased Desert Wind Winery in 2021 together with the Merkle family, who we also have vineyards with, as well. This Sandstorm vintage was produced before we took over the vineyards and winery. These are some of my favorite Desert Wind wines, and we are happy to extend on offer on Casemates for them. Thanks for checking it out! ~ Lisa
@kaolis I kind of agree with the pro reviews. Iâll take that as a good sign.
Greetings from Desert Wind! We are excited to offer up our Sandstorm series on Casemates! You may have seen me here before - I am Lisa Lawrence with Gard Vintners. Together with the Merkle family, my husband Josh and I purchased Desert Wind vineyards in 2020 and Desert Wind Winery in 2021. Happy to answer any questions today, and will be checking in. Cheers! ~ Lisa
@WAwine Gard was one of my early Casemates purchases back in 2018. Really liked that red blend!!
The reviews and ratage make this sound pretty irresistible! Iâm in for a case.
/giphy lovable-reunited-greetings
@gemeinschaft79 We canât wait for you to try them!
Killer deal, IMHO.
@Winedavid49 This lab rat agrees! (Unless youâre super sensitive to oak.)
Where is the MIA Zephyr Rat?
@rjquillin so the Zephyr is âlikeâ a mystery bottle if we order
@kitkat34
Never heard of the winery before today, but Wahluke Slope is a fantastic appellation.
@Pagefault So glad you found us! Weâre proud to source 100% from our Desert Wind Estate Vineyard in the Wahluke Slope.
After youâve taken advantage of this fabulous deal, be sure to check out our website to see our other current releases. I recommend our flagship red blend - âRuah,â the Cabernet Sauvignon/Syrah, or the Malbec!
@DesertWindWine thanks! Ruah sounds intriguing, as does the Syrah RosĂŠâŚdo you have distribution in the Seattle area?
@DesertWindWine @Pagefault Ruah like âwindâ in Hebrew?
@Pagefault we have the Ruah, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot distributed in Seattle. Anything else you can order direct from our website!
@klezman @Pagefault Thatâs right!
@DesertWindWine @Pagefault
!×׌×××
Anybody want to split a case? I live in Green Bay, but am frequently in Madison WisconsinâŚ
hey there central NYers, anyone from the Utica/Syracuse area want to split a case?
Anyone in the Olympia, WA area down for a case split?