Tasting note

The fragrance and poise of the 2012 Factor shiraz are exciting. This is arguably the best they've made with fine, complex spices and tar. Some toasty oak asserts itself but doesn't dominate and there's a tarry, black-fruit element with some graphite. This has richness and balance. Super-concentrated blackberries and sweetly spiced plum-fruit flavors combine with fine tannins. Very dense, super fresh, muscular, lithe, sturdy and assertive. This has all the makings of a modern Barossa classic. Drink in 2020. Score - 96. (James Suckling, jamessuckling.com, Jan. 27, 2015)