Peter Duff, Wife Die Together At Zurich Euthanasia Clinic

Peter Duff, Executive Vice President of the International Wine & Spirit Competition (IWSC), cofounder of the UK Wine Guild and founder of Alcohol in Moderation and his wife Penelope (Penny) both ended their battle against terminal cancer at the Dignitas clinic in Zurich, Switzerland. Peter Duff was 80, Penelope, 70.

In an email to Wine Industry Insight their daughter, Helen Conibear, said her father, “believed passionately that there was a lack of voice for the culture of moderation, generally, within society, but specifically in regard to the moderate enjoyment of alcohol as an integral part of many societies, religions and cultures over the millennia,” and noted that Duff worked with the late Robert Mondavi to promote drinking in moderation. AIM today has a Social Scientific and Medical Council of nineteen professors and specialists from around the world.

In an earlier public statement released by Conibear, she said: “Peter and Penny Duff passed away peacefully together in Zurich after a long battle against their terminal cancer on February 27.

“Penny had fought a rare cancer, GIST, since 1992 and Peter’s colon cancer had spread to his liver. Their decision in no way reflected on the wonderful and humbling care they have received from their consultant, doctors and nurses, for which the family, and they, were so appreciative.

GIST – Gastrointestinal stromal tumor is a rare cancer affecting the digestive tract or nearby structures within the abdomen.

“Their family are very distressed that they have not had the opportunity to write to their parents’ many friends and colleagues before the news reached the press, papers were not yet in order to enable this. They ask for dignity and respect at this difficult time and for this statement to be accepted without further comment until official matters are resolved.”

She also said her father particularly enjoyed the IWSC, which he joined as a board member in 1978. “He so enjoyed the friendships he made through the competition, and the wonderful wines he encountered as a result. I think it gave him more pleasure than any of his other ventures.”

Conibear and his two other daughters, Sherry and Alison, all work for AIM which Duffy founded in 1991.