Winemaker Notes
The Factor is predominantly from the Gomersal and Marananga sub-regions of the Barossa. Very expressive with lifted black fruits such as satsuma plum, blackberry, compote, vanilla bean dark cocoa and maraschino liqueur. Complex, luxuriously dense and alluring. The mineral components highlight Barossa Ironstone, dried earth and eucalypt. The wine's voluptuous texture envelops the mouth with soft yet dense tannins and mouth filling viscosity. The flavors linger and the cleansing acidity polishes the palates gorgeous length and depth. Oak maturation is harmonious and well integrated adding to complexity on release.
Best decanted and paired with rich winter dishes from most cuisines.
Professional Ratings
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Australian Wine Companion
Shiraz from the parishes of Gomersal, Krondorf, Marananga and Ebenezer matured in French oak (40% new) for 24 months. This year's Factor sports an inky, graphite-led intensity of fruit and a sense of purity. Compression, too, with deep satsuma plum, blackberry and black cherry fruits initially feeling compact and tight before exploding onto the palate with substantial tannin heft and layers of dark spice, cedar, licorice and dark chocolate. While you could happily tuck into this tonight, it will cellar like a champion.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2020 The Factor is 100% Shiraz and made up of fruit from Gomersal, Krondorf, Marananga and Ebenezer in the Barossa Valley. The wine was matured for 24 months in a combination of new (40%) and seasoned French oak barriques. In the glass, the wine verges on black, and the nose echoes this abyss-like shade. Blackberry, blood plum, black cherry, licorice, campfire embers, cocoa dust, clove, iodine, vanilla pod and red dirt—this is the core of the wine, the beating heart. The tannins, like a skeleton that protects it, are velvety, plush and structural. Like a skeleton, the tannins are entrenched in the fruit, concealed by a skin of flavor. This is a sybaritic, superstar wine that reflects the warm, concentrated, dry, low-yielding vintage from whence it came. This is classic, polished, midnight Torbreck here.
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James Suckling
Intense iron and blackberries with black olives. Salted licorice. Dried decadent meat, too. Full and rich with an intensity and density, yet it goes on and on. Muscular yet racy. This needs a few years to open, but not over done. Plenty of intensity.
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Wine Spectator
Concentrated, with lovely Dutch cocoa overtones to the core of blueberry, blackberry preserves and framboise. Reveals details of rosemary, eucalyptus and sandalwood that add aromatic complexity on the long finish, while a note of vintage cigar lingers. Shiraz. Drink now through 2034. 1,000 cases made, 160 cases imported.
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Wine Enthusiast
Rich, ripe black currant, ground pepper and toasty oak-spice aromas are a powerful start to this muscular wine. On the palate, the plush fruit holds its own but the massive, saliva-zapping tannins are a bit hard to take at the moment. A few more years in bottle should settle things down and morph this into a lovely, winter-warming red.
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.