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.- EL

Made with fruit off vines from 30-130 years of age, this 2020 Shiraz The Factor has a strong Comas feel. It is richly endowed with black olive, dried olive leaf, chocolate, and cocoa aromas with fantastic focus. A muscular core of spicy, dark berry fruits follows, punchy with impact. There is also some serious density and structure that will keep this wine in pristine condition for many years to come. By Angus Hughson on March 2023

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. Drink after 2025.

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. — M.W.