Daléne Fourie

Daléne has served as editor at Port2Port since its inception. An avid oenophile and keen observer of wine and digital trends, she has passed WSET lvl2 with merit and looks to satisfy her appetite for all things wine-related by reporting on them.

A full sense of origin | Nativo Wines

Nativo wines is set on an old wheat farm in Malmesbury,...

By Daléne Fourie

06 October 2022

A Valley within a Valley | Oldenburg Vineyards

“This is just the beginning. Oldenburg has finally come of age as a first-rate...

By Daléne Fourie

Sadie Family Wines | The 2022 Release

"We have decided to drink more wine, for trying to make sense of this highly confusing...

By Daléne Fourie

For the Sake of Clarity | Illimis Wines

“Those who know that they are profound strive for clarity. Those who would like to seem...

By Daléne Fourie

The Smell of Syrah

“Smell is a potent wizard that transports us a thousand miles and all the years we have...

By Daléne Fourie

“For my part, I deem those blessed to whom, by favour of the gods, it has been granted...

By Daléne Fourie

The Restaurateur

“My Afrikaans is nie net vir selfverdediging nie.” / “My Afrikaans isn’t just for self...

By Daléne Fourie

Kanonkop's Other Half

Francois Van Zyl is a golfer. “And I’m very good.”...

By Daléne Fourie

The Different Shapes & Sizes of Kara-Tara Wines

Rüdger van Wyk looks like a rugby player, which he was back in the...

By Daléne Fourie

The Newton Johnsons have been farming the Upper Hemel-en-Aarde Valley for 25 years....

By Daléne Fourie

The Single Vine

For a man who picked 165 tons in the 2021 harvest from around 76 vineyards and 30...

By Daléne Fourie

Along the Weskus

“Also, the West Coast has the best swear words in all of South Africa.” – Sakkie Mouton....

By Daléne Fourie

15 February 2022

The Place of the Lost She-Goat

Bertie Coetzee isn’t just any farmer, he’s a singer/songwriter TURNED bioboertie (his...

By Daléne Fourie

14 February 2022

The term ‘Tabernacle’ is an ancient, biblical reference to the inner sanctum in a place...

By Daléne Fourie

09 December 2021

The Master of Wine | Madeleine Stenwreth

“My work is not...

By Daléne Fourie

27 November 2021

Meet Henry and Riëtte Kotze, 2021’s Platter’s Newcomers of the Year, and WHAT a year to...

By Daléne Fourie

22 October 2021

Syrah from the Southernmost tip of Africa

“I am that vast, secret promontory you Portuguese call the Cape of Storms.” - Adamastor,...

By Daléne Fourie

21 October 2021

The Culture of Wine

“I discovered the culture of wine and was inspired by that. It became something for me to...

By Daléne Fourie

23 September 2021

“I love Paris in the springtime. I love Paris in the fall…” - Peter Finlayson...

By Daléne Fourie

The Joy of Missing Out

“I don’t like driving hey. We live here on the farm, we live among the vines, we feel the...

By Daléne Fourie

“Ek word al minder en die wyn word al meer.” / “I become less, and the wine becomes...

By Daléne Fourie

The Blue Sky Theory

“Just remember if you look out the window Gary, it’s blue sky. If you go for it, no-one’s...

By Daléne Fourie

Given the choice of 10 000 wines - how do you...

By Daléne Fourie

Négociant (Neg-oh-cee-aunt) - French term for a wine merchant who carefully selects...

By Daléne Fourie

The Family Business

There’s a fire being lit down by the Polkadraai Hills. Did you...

By Daléne Fourie

“A gentleman is someone who does not what he wants to do, but what he should do.”― Haruki...

By Daléne Fourie

The Nature of Erika Obermeyer Wines

If I say Granadilla. Can you taste...

By Daléne Fourie

Where the Mountains Meet ...

“I’ve got one foot on one mountain and one foot on the other - proper Soutie*” - Alex...

By Daléne Fourie

21 January 2021

Bubbles Ferreira

Why Bubbles? “Because I’M Bubbles Ferreira…” - Pieter...

By Daléne Fourie

18 November 2020

Piggy Perseverance

By Daléne Fourie

04 November 2020

The Place of the Shiny Rocks

“This is a pretty hostile place.” - Callie...

By Daléne Fourie

22 October 2020

A Pinotage Story

Pinotage is 97 years-old this year....

By Daléne Fourie

14 October 2020

Discover Cru Beaujolais

A Virtual Tour with the...

By Daléne Fourie

13 October 2020

The Helderberger

“I feel like I was born to crush grapes.” - Wade...

By Daléne Fourie

02 September 2020

Have you ever experienced someone telling you incredible things quietly, with no fanfare?...

By Daléne Fourie

The Renaissance Man

“The most beautiful Afrikaans word is this: Wysbegeerte.” - Eben...

By Daléne Fourie

The Revolutionaries

“There’s no instant gratification in winemaking.” - Andrea...

By Daléne Fourie

Introducing No. 7

We thought we’d get the answers from the proverbial horse’s mouth and approached Etienne...

By Daléne Fourie

A Viticulturist

“It will read ‘Chris Keet, Viticulturist’ on my gravestone.” - Chris Keet jokingly...

By Daléne Fourie

The Tesselaarsdaller

“Why do people pay so much for wine?” - Berene...

By Daléne Fourie

Introducing Silene

The Capensis brand is a study in Cape Chardonnay by two famous winemaking families and...

By Daléne Fourie

The Forever of Uva Mira

“The only constant is change.” - Christiaan Coetzee quoting...

By Daléne Fourie

The Business of Wine

“Not the wine business, but the business of wine as I like to call it.” - Johann...

By Daléne Fourie

The Lady of Glenelly

“Army wives never complain.” - Madame May-Elaine de Lencquesaing...

By Daléne Fourie

The Island of Vilafonté

Edward Pietersen has been the winegrower at Vilafonté for the past 14 years, with 13...

By Daléne Fourie

“You can’t give up because of the wind.” - Jan ‘Boland’...

By Daléne Fourie

One Foot in the Old World

I’m starting to think that this ‘what struggles have catapulted you to success’ angle is...

By Daléne Fourie

Famous cities are known by their landmarks. Barcelona has ‘La Sagrada Familia’ and...

By Daléne Fourie

21 February 2020

Lifetime Rights

As a geologist, Gary Jordan thinks in millions of...

By Daléne Fourie

13 February 2020

The Golden Slopes

Burgundy. Given what we now know, we’re starting to understand the recurring biblical...

By Daléne Fourie

29 January 2020

‘Nec Plus Ultra’ is Latin for ‘Nothing Beyond’, meaning that at Bruno Paillard they aim...

By Daléne Fourie

23 January 2020

Welcome to 2020

2020 started when the guy who turns the electricity on and off got back from...

By Daléne Fourie

16 January 2020

The Spogwijn Krismis Boks

The Spog Wijn crew are an unlikely group of some of South Africa’s most interesting,...

By Daléne Fourie

29 November 2019

The Insider's Guide

This year the first Cape Fine & Rare Wine Auction was held on the 18th and 19th October...

By Daléne Fourie

22 November 2019

The Key to Simonsberg

In Japanese ‘-san’ is added to a name or surname as a title of respect. Interestingly the...

By Daléne Fourie

16 November 2019

The Defender of Chardonnay

“I wish I was a Ninja,” said Paul. I, not knowing that he was referring to Testalonga’s...

By Daléne Fourie

18 October 2019

Don’t stop reading this because you can’t afford the...

By Daléne Fourie

The Man, the Myth, the Legend

Whoever said diamonds are a girl’s best friend, may have been right, but it's so much...

By Daléne Fourie

I am the Helderberg

By Daléne Fourie

The Superpower of Erika Obermeyer

It would seem to me that in order to become a superhero, you’ve got to suffer a...

By Daléne Fourie

The Druid of Avondale

If you ever considered yourself a religious person, or if not religious, then at least...

By Daléne Fourie

13 February 2019

Die Kurktrekkers

Stephanie Wiid and Etienne Terblanche, the founders of Thistle & Weed, belong to a...

By Daléne Fourie

30 January 2019

Danie and Hugo Carinus are agter-agter-kleinneefs, which I THINK means far-off third...

By Daléne Fourie

23 January 2019

The Wijn of Donkiesbaai

In December Capetonians, nay South Africans, make their pilgrimage to the...

By Daléne Fourie

12 December 2018

The Man and the Wolf

“NOW this is the law of the jungle, as old and as true as the sky, And the wolf that...

By Daléne Fourie

05 December 2018

“Wille Vooruitsigte” (Wild Prospects) said winemaker Conrad Vlok, when I spoke to him...

By Daléne Fourie

28 November 2018

Apples and Pears

The original idiom ‘comparing apples and oranges’ refers to a comparison between two...

By Daléne Fourie

07 November 2018

Kanonkop Black Label Pinotage

The annual launch of the new-vintage Black Label Pinotage from Kanonkop Wine Estate is...

By Daléne Fourie

26 October 2018

Francophile: A person who is fond of or greatly admires France or the...

By Daléne Fourie

24 October 2018

A Room with a View

"Winemakers are anything but creators. We are merely mediators between elements - taming...

By Daléne Fourie

10 October 2018

The Title Deeds to Fairview

“If you plant the label and a purple cauliflower pops up, I’ll personally hand you the...

By Daléne Fourie

19 September 2018

Flight of the Flamingoes

Flamingoes characteristically take off slowly, fly high, and fly...

By Daléne Fourie

11 September 2018

The (not so) Secret Garden

Describe your fantasy garden? “A meadow of ornamental grasses, Russian Sage, Sedum,...

By Daléne Fourie

A Kleine Wijn Initiative

"I say we trust our instincts, go with our gut. You can't program that. That's our edge."...

By Daléne Fourie

It was a windless day in the Swartland, oppressive, dry,...

By Daléne Fourie

Legends in the making

“Vrolik klink die liedjie Wat die klingelinge van haar enkelringe vergesel…”/ “Cheerful...

By Daléne Fourie

From the Back of a Bakkie

Riandri Visser, winemaker at Cape Point Vineyards, is a slight, fair-skinned young...

By Daléne Fourie

"What would you be as a wine? A blend.” - David Cope {co-owner of...

By Daléne Fourie

The Truth About Tuscany

I’ve always thought of myself as a New World type...

By Daléne Fourie

Alex Dale's Guide to Burgundy

You may ask: “Who is this Alex Dale and what qualifies HIM as our guide to...

By Daléne Fourie

A Special Allocation

Porseleinberg (Afrikaans meaning "Porcelain Mountain") is anything but the fine and...

By Daléne Fourie

The Many Vineyards of Jacques Prieur

Did you know? While the French term ‘Chateau’ denotes a country house or castle,...

By Daléne Fourie

The Art of 99 Points

“A slightly beguiling nose of kirsch, dried mulberries and plum preserves with nuances of...

By Daléne Fourie

A League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (and two Ladies)

“Come, Watson, come!" he cried. The game is afoot.” ― Arthur Conan Doyle, The...

By Daléne Fourie

On the Importance of Wine Travel

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people...

By Daléne Fourie

An Autobiography

“All art is autobiographical; the pearl is the oyster’s autobiography.” – Federico...

By Daléne Fourie

Stoep Sit with the Karoo Wine Club

At any one time YOU belong to a great number of unofficial clubs, ‘unofficial’ yet...

By Daléne Fourie

“The prerequisite for speaking French, I have always thought, is being the kind of person...

By Daléne Fourie

21 February 2018

Die Blêrrie Duitser {The Difficult German}

In July 2005, Michael ‘Spatz’ Sperling of Delheim, Vera Cruz and De Klapmuts sat down to...

By Daléne Fourie

08 February 2018

KEEP CALM & CARRY ON

“Because survival is insufficient.” ― Emily St. John Mandel, Station...

By Daléne Fourie

25 January 2018

Old World Africa

When a Grand Old French Dame, from a 250 year-old winemaking family, who single-handedly...

By Daléne Fourie

18 January 2018

The Tale of the Animal Farm and the Vines

“Between pigs and human beings there was not and there need not be any clash of interest...

By Daléne Fourie

10 January 2018

The Thing about Stellenbosch…

There are 12 varietals planted on the 120 ha Waterford Estate, though only half of the...

By Daléne Fourie

23 November 2017

An Introduction

“I perhaps owe having become a painter to flowers” ― Claude...

By Daléne Fourie

15 November 2017

A Lesson in Pinotage

In 1996, Anthony Hamilton Russell made a bet with Jancis Robinson. “One day South...

By Daléne Fourie

08 November 2017

An Old World Wine Guide

“The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don’t know.” - Albert...

By Daléne Fourie

01 November 2017

“It is the road that teaches us the best way to get there, and the road enriches us as we...

By Daléne Fourie

25 October 2017

‘Old School’, as described by the urban dictionary, is a positive term referring to when...

By Daléne Fourie

18 October 2017

A Little-Big Life

The Buddhist’s Nirvana, Maslow’s Self-Actualization, Epicurus’s Ataraxia. All pinnacles...

By Daléne Fourie

03 October 2017

Discovering America

“In Italy,” explained Gaia (daughter to Angelo Gaja) “when you’re very lucky, we say ‘You...

By Daléne Fourie

20 September 2017

The Traffords are pioneers (having established a whole WINE WARD all by themselves - see...

By Daléne Fourie

15 September 2017

Wines from the Frontier

“South Africa isn’t quite the Wild West, but there’s a frontier spirit to its wine...

By Daléne Fourie

13 September 2017

Oakleine Valley

Sir Antonie Viljoen (1858 - 1918), founder of Oak Valley Estate named his youngest...

By Daléne Fourie

06 September 2017

“Youthful Brilliance” said Tim Atkin in his 2016 Special Report on South African...

By Daléne Fourie

The Perfect Wave

Dilla: A surfer who is confidently secure in being different or...

By Daléne Fourie

The Good Life by Tokara

“It is good to love many things, for therein lies the true strength, and whosoever loves...

By Daléne Fourie

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

In 1902 the Postmaster of Hermanuspietersfontein deemed the name too long and shortened...

By Daléne Fourie

The Definite Article

‘The’ is the only definite article in the English language. It is used when the speaker...

By Daléne Fourie

The Fourth Estate

Why do we subscribe to annual ratings and wine awards? Well, our reasoning is...

By Daléne Fourie

The Lady of Steenberg

Nancy Astor, the first female member of British Parliament is famous for threatening...

By Daléne Fourie

The Old Masters

“At 90 I hope to have penetrated into the mystery of things; at 100 years of age I should...

By Daléne Fourie

State of the Nation

Let’s face it, the state of OUR nation is not looking rosy. What the news does not report...

By Daléne Fourie

The Flying Frenchman

Unlike the flying Dutchman, the legendary ghost ship doomed never to cast anchor, the...

By Daléne Fourie

’Steen’ means ‘Rock’ in Afrikaans, and more importantly, ‘Chenin blanc’ (though we were...

By Daléne Fourie

Australia is vast. The sixth largest country by total area, it is situated on the...

By Daléne Fourie

The Tale of Chamonix

In Afrikaans there’s a word, ‘fabelagtig', fable-worthy, worthy of a fairytale. The...

By Daléne Fourie

Field of Dreams

It was a happy accident when Dr. Phil Freese (wine-growing partner at Vilafonté) jokingly...

By Daléne Fourie

This week there are many stories to tell. Having been offered a collection of 2002...

By Daléne Fourie

A Sleeping Giant

Great winemaking areas usually have some kind of incline and is close to a body of water,...

By Daléne Fourie

22 February 2017

A Decade Ago...

David Bowie said: “Speak in extremes, it’ll save you time.” We’re following his advice in...

By Daléne Fourie

15 February 2017

A Kuddelmuddel of Riesling

Kann ich mehr Riesling bitte? Our first taste of a well-aged Kabinett, with that...

By Daléne Fourie

08 February 2017

Angelo Gaja said: “We don’t sell Barbaresco, Barolo, Bolgheri or Brunello, we sell...

By Daléne Fourie

25 January 2017

The Māoris refer to New Zealand as Aotearoa, the ‘Land of the Long White Cloud', quite...

By Daléne Fourie

18 January 2017

Quality by Design

"The wines are proving to be among the very best to have emerged in the modern era of...

By Daléne Fourie

04 January 2017

The Promised Land

“And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock, I will build my church, and the gates...

By Daléne Fourie

21 December 2016

The Cape's True North

Alheit Vineyards is a name mentioned in hushed tones, for no sooner are their vintages...

By Daléne Fourie

13 December 2016

“No man is an island.” But if we HAD to be one, we’d be Sicily by simple virtue of its...

By Daléne Fourie

13 December 2016

The Exquisite Struggle

Swartland, Western Cape. It is an obvious, yet largely unspoken fact, that in order for...

By Daléne Fourie

09 December 2016

The Fable of Two Cases

A Fable is defined by its talking animals and a moral lesson; not to be confused with a...

By Daléne Fourie

09 December 2016

The Vocabulary of Taste

Roald Dahl, one of our favourite authors, wrote a short story entitled 'Taste'. It...

By Daléne Fourie

09 December 2016

Shades of Blush

Rosade, Rosato or Rosé. No matter how you say it, is a misunderstood wine. Praised and...

By Daléne Fourie

09 December 2016

Méthode Winemaking

One of life's great ironies is that Champagne wines were never intended to fizz. The now...

By Daléne Fourie

05 December 2016

The Many Names of Chardonnay

A star-crossed lover once lamented: "What's in a name?" Well, as it turns out, a whole...

By Daléne Fourie

05 December 2016

A Study in Bordeaux

It is with a sense of inevitability that we have arrived here. Well not HERE, North of...

By Daléne Fourie

22 November 2016