Torbreck Wines > The Wines > The Factor

2007	The 2007 The Factor is a 100% Shiraz cuvee. Alluring notes of game, bacon, incense, and blueberry lead to a ripe, layered, complex wine lacking the opulence of top vintages such as 2002, 2004, and 2005. Nevertheless, this is an outstanding wine. Drink: 2013 - 2022 \| Date Tasted: Dec 09
2006	The purple/black 2006 The Factor is 100% old-vine Shiraz from the esteemed Greenock sub-region of Barossa Valley. It spent 24 months in 30% new oak. The aromatic array of balsam wood, smoke, pepper, espresso, blueberry, and licorice is eye-opening. This leads to a rich, glossy, full-flavored Shiraz with layers of succulent fruit, ripe tannin, exceptional spiciness, and a lengthy, pure finish. It will evolve for another 8-10 years and will have a drinking window extending from 2016 to 2036. Torbreck, under the leadership of owner/winemaker David Powell, remains a Barossa Valley benchmark as well as one of the world’s leading wine estates. Drink: 2016 - 2036 \| Date Tasted: Feb 09
2005	The 2005 The Factor is 100% Shiraz sourced from dry grown vines from six sub-regions of Barossa. It spent 24 months in 30% new French oak. Opaque purple-colored, it delivers an expressive bouquet of pepper, smoke, espresso roast, blackberry, blueberry, and licorice. Full-bodied and voluptuous on the palate, nuances of saddle leather and mineral emerge to complement the layers of spicy blue and black fruits. The wine is beautifully integrated with enough well-concealed tannin to keep this wine evolving for a decade. The pure finish lingers for 60+ seconds to complete the experience of a totally hedonistic turn-on. Torbreck, under the leadership of owner/winemaker David Powell, remains a Barossa Valley benchmark as well as one of the world’s greatest wine estates. The top cuvees are limited production and expensive but there are also some outstanding values in the portfolio. With regard to the current vintages for the Barossa red wines, David Powell states “? 2004 is more savory while 2005 has more purity and definition. 2004 is more classic, 2005 will take longer to come around.” Date Tasted: Oct 07
2004	Made from 100% Shiraz that spent 24 months in French oak (30% new), the exuberant, flamboyant 2004 The Factor offers up gorgeously pure blueberry and blackberry fruit intermixed with smoke, bacon fat, camphor, and graphite. Silky smooth, and, as David Powell says, “the most Barossa-like” of all his wines, it represents Powell’s rendition of a Cote Rotie. It can be drunk over the next 15-20 years. Drink: 2006 - 2026 \| Date Tasted: Oct 06
2003	The 2003 The Factor (100% Shiraz aged 24 months in old French oak) is a riveting effort that displays the exquisite talent of David Powell. Its smoky perfume of blackberry liqueur intermixed with cherries, acacia flowers, and espresso roast is followed by a full-throttle, multi-layered palate as well as a 60-second finish. This stunning Shiraz should drink well for 10-15+ years. David Powell, unquestionably one of the world’s finest wine producers, has an uncanny ability to discover old vine Barossa vineyards, and then secure long term contracts for their fruit. It is amazing that such high quality sources have not already been plucked by Australia’s giant wine corporations. Torbreck’s wines continue to get better and better, combining the old vine ripe fruit of Barossa with a European sensitivity to elegance and balance. The finest wines in this portfolio are pricy, but David Powell delivers some remarkable reds and whites at prices that are more than fair for the quality in the bottle. Drink: 2005 - 2020 \| Date Tasted: Oct 05
2002	Remarkably, the 2002 The Factor may be even more awesome than the 2001. It boasts a blackberry liqueur-like intensity with chocolatey richness intermixed with blackberries, raspberries, and cherries. The unctuous texture, refreshing acidity, and sweet tannin frame-up this magnificent wine. It should drink well for 15+ years. Interestingly, the 2002 The Factor did not have the Cote Rotie-like roasted element found in the 2001, no doubt because 2002 was a much cooler growing year than the record heat experienced in 2001. Drink: 2004 - 2019 \| Date Tasted: Oct 04
2001	The 100% Shiraz offering, the exquisite 2001 The Factor, aged 24 months in French oak (30% new), possesses a roasted, Cote Rotie character than its Shiraz siblings. Blackberry, blueberry, espresso roast, smoke, and a roasted component are found in this intense, rich effort along with considerable structure, fabulous density, and a broad, deep, profound palate. Date Tasted: Oct 04
2000	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 that should drink well for 10-15 years.
1999	The spectacular 1999 The Factor is the second vintage of this 100% Shiraz cuvee aged primarily in old French oak for 30 months prior to being bottled with no fining or filtration. David Powell calls it the "most classic Barossa Valley wine" he makes. Yields from these old Shiraz vineyards average 1.35 tons of fruit per acre. The opaque inky/blue/purple color is accompanied by scents of new saddle leather, pepper, creosote, smoke, and blackberry liqueur. This full-bodied, marvelously concentrated, stunningly pure Shiraz is the qualitative equivalent of this estate's flagship offering, the Run Rig. Anticipated maturity: Now-2016. Drink: 2002 - 2016 \| Date Tasted: Oct 02
1998	A stunning effort is the 1998 The Factor. This 100% Shiraz cuvee of 240 cases is made from 50-130-year old vines. No new oak is used, although some of the press wine does see new American oak. Supple, with a telltale, ostentatious bouquet of black fruits intermixed with smoke, licorice, and melted asphalt, this super-extracted, velvety-textured, sumptuous, pure, rich, impeccably well-balanced Shiraz is best consumed during its first decade of life. This wine not only makes for compelling drinking, but it is also a huge amount of fun, and isn't that what it's all about? If I had to give an award to Australia's finest winemaker in 2001, it would be hard not to consider David Powell. Drink: 2001 - 2011 \| Date Tasted: Jun 01

The Factor - The Wine Advocate (Robert Parker)