Winemaker Notes
Our homage to the great old vines of the Barossa Valley, this wine is composed of 100% Shiraz. Complex and concentrated, the wine is cloaked in velvet tannins that will continue to develop for another 10 years at least. The Factor is all that you would expect of a pureblood Barossa Shiraz.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2000 The Factor (1,000 cases) has benefited from the fact that Powell decided not to produce a Run Rig in 2000. It is a compelling wine of great richness, multiple dimensions, and glorious levels of blackberry liqueur-like fruit intermixed with creme de cassis, melted licorice, espresso, and leather. Sweet, expansive, and opulent, it is a lusty, hedonistic, mouth-staining Shiraz.
Marked by an unmistakable deep purple hue and savory aromatics, Syrah makes an intense, powerful and often age-worthy red. Native to the Northern Rhône, Syrah achieves its maximum potential in the steep village of Hermitage and plays an important component in the Red Rhône Blends of the south, adding color and structure to Grenache and Mourvèdre. Syrah is the most widely planted grape of Australia and is important in California and Washington. Sommelier Secret—Such a synergy these three create together, the Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre trio often takes on the shorthand term, “GSM.”
Historically and presently the most important wine-producing region of Australia, the Barossa Valley is set in the Barossa zone of South Australia, where more than half of the country’s wine is made. Because the climate is very hot and dry, vineyard managers work diligently to ensure grapes reach the perfect levels of phenolic ripeness.
The intense heat is ideal for plush, bold reds, particularly Shiraz on its own or Rhône Blends. Often Shiraz and Cabernet partner up for plump and powerful reds.
While much less prevalent, light-skinned varieties such as Riesling, Viognier or Semillon produce vibrant Barossa Valley whites.
Most of Australia’s largest wine producers are based here and Shiraz plantings date back as far as the 1850s or before. Many of them are dry farmed and bush trained, still offering less than one ton per acre of inky, intense, purple juice.