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

'You'd expect a wine produced on this extreme, windblown site in the Swartland to be wild and unruly. But this is surprisingly elegant and subtle. Fermented entirely in concrete, it's floral and scented, with silky tannins, some pepper and a core of strawberry succulence on top of mineral, stony acidity. This will be released before the more backward 2011, but it's still a wine that will age well. A Cape classic in the making. Drink: 2012-22' - Tim Atkin MW, SA Special Report 2014, 96/100

'2012 is superb! Many years ahead of it, but already shows complexity in perfumed aromas and super-subtle but intense palate, with a truly rare refinement. Also rare is lack of oak influence - in concrete 'egg' for a year. Tiny yield, bunch-pressed. Bone-dry; 13.5% alcohol; big tannins also a touch dry - give them time.' - Platter's SA Wine Guide 2015, 5*

'Quite a subdued, dusty mineral nose with broody pithy black fruits, stony hints, dried fennel and sweet lavender. More elegant and loose knit on the palate, the tannins are supple, polished and elegant, even sweet. Still full of potent youthful black mineral laced fruits with notable elegance and finesse. A real beauty that's ready to go now but certainly not showing its age.' - Greg Sherwood MW, 96+/100 (2023)

'The 2012 Porseleinberg Syrah has a sublime, perfumed bouquet with raspberry preserve, cloves, touches of wild fennel and rosemary that are all very succinct. The palate is medium-bodied with supremely well judged acidity, firm grip in the mouth and plenty of raspberry and wild strawberry fruit toward the finish, inter-layered with fennel and white pepper. Great backbone here and very long length, this is another outstanding wine from one of Swartland's finest exponents.' - Neal Martin, Wine Advocate, 95/100 (Oct 2014)

'The 2012 Porseleinberg was cropped at 9hl/ha, matured in three concrete eggs after a week on the skins. It was matured for 12 months in concrete eggs, and just 230 cases were produced. This has a very elegant bouquet, pure with a mixture of red and black fruit, bay leaf and clove, just a touch of dried rose petals and aniseed. The palate is medium-bodied with pliant tannins, lighter than the 2011. There's a fine backbone, a little more austere than the previous vintage, with a touch of cracked black pepper on the finish. This is drinking perfectly now but will continue to age in bottle.' - Neal Martin, Vinous, 93/100 (Jun 2023)