Timed Online Auction, 28 January - 9 February 2026

Provenance

The late David Brice was a respected wine connoisseur, collector and co-founder of Wine Cellar, fine wine merchants. His lifelong passion for wine from all corners of the world wine, and generosity, helped develop a culture of fine wine in South Africa and beyond. Always with value and authenticity in mind, the collection spans a wide range of styles from leading producers and diverse regions. The wines were professionally imported under refrigeration and carefully stored at Wine Cellar thereafter. Many of the producers are not available in South Africa and provide an excellent buying opportunity.

The Rhône valley was one of David's favoured regions, known for its diverse range of reds and whites. These were quintessential French wines from excellent easy-drinking, to fine, long-term treasures. He enjoyed wines from all the villages from Vaucluse to Vacqueyras, and Cornas to Côte-Rôtie. David focused on top vintages for long-term maturation and lesser vintages for earlier drinking. The highlight perhaps is his deep collection of top Châteauneuf-du-Pape from great vintages like 2010 and 2007.

For more detailed information on the lots, please feel free to contact Roland Peens (roland@winecellar.co.za). Roland spent many years sharing and enjoying these wines with David Brice and is happy to provide further insight into the collection.

Critics Ratings

'The 2015 Syrah has a more opulent and glossy bouquet compared to its peers with precocious black cherries and cassis fruit, pure in style though maybe just missing the same degree of terroir expression. Yet with aeration, it develops more nuance, gains complexity and mineralité. The palate is medium-bodied with black pepper and sage, very Cornas-like, structured with a drier, "serious" finish that may repay continued bottle age. I am intrigued to see how this will develop in bottle - it shows marked improvement in the glass. This shows remarkably better than previous bottles - one of the standouts of this blind tasting. Tasted blind at the 10-Year-On horizontal in London.' - Neal Martin, Vinous, 95/100 (2025)

'Tasted blind. Light, high-toned nose. Pretty, and already the winemaker was taking their foot off the pedal! Fresh and very 21st century.' - Jancis Robinson, JancisRobinson.com, 17/20 (2025)

'The 2015 Syrah includes two additional vineyards on granite soils after the 2015, whilst the whole bunch component is back up to 60%. It has a clean and precise bouquet with floral-tinged red berry fruit (red cherry and wild strawberry), nicely focused and developing more intensity with aeration. The palate is very well balanced with crisp acidity, fine structure, much more detail than the 2014 and I think that is down to the higher whole bunch proportion, the sense of energy flowing through on the long finish. Compared to the 2014 Syrah, I much prefer this: more freshness and complexity.' - Neal Martin, Wine Advocate, 93/100 (2017)