The executive president of the International Wine and Spirit Competition (IWSC) and his wife have committed suicide together in Switzerland.

Peter Duff, 80, also founder of Alcohol in Moderation (AIM) and his wife Penny, 70, had both been suffering from terminal cancer. Their daughter, Helena Conibear, executive director of AIM, issued a statement confirming they had travelled to the Dignitas euthanasia clinic to end their lives.

Alan Gibbons, executive director of the IWSC paid tribute to Duff’s work.

‘Peter was involved in the IWSC for more than 30 years and was fundamental to making the competition what it is today. He was a personal friend of Robert Mondavi and was crucial to getting him, and the great and the good of the wine industry involved in the competition,’ he told decanter.com.

‘We won’t see his like again,’ he added.

Duff also established The Wine Guild of the United Kingdom. Lord Montagu of Beaulieu, co-founder of the Guild said Duff’s death was a major loss. ‘Peter made a huge contribution to wine in this country. It is very sad and he will be greatly missed.’

Written by Rebecca Gibb

Rebecca Gibb MW
Rebecca Gibb MW
Decanter Magazine & DWWA Judge

Rebecca Gibb MW is a wine journalist and editor who has also founded Bamboozled games, ‘the world’s first wine and spirit puzzle makers’. Having spent six years living in New Zealand, she has recently returned to her native north-east England. While in New Zealand, she became a Master of Wine, graduating top of her class and winning the Madame Bollinger medal for excellence in tasting. A former winner of both the UK’s young wine writer of the year and the Louis Roederer Emerging Wine Writer, her first book The Wines of New Zealand was published in 2018. She also runs wine events and has her own consultancy business The Drinks Project. She was a judge at the 2019 Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA).