The names of two award winners were announced at the annual Institute of Cape Wine Masters (ICWM) dinner held on Saturday, 11 September at Jordan Wine Estate in Stellenbosch: the Wine Personality of the Year and the second winner of the Dave Hughes Trophy, instituted last year in honour of the founder of the Cape Wine Academy in 1979 and honorary CWM.
Duimpie Bayly was posthumously designated the recipient of the Dave Hughes Trophy which honours the CWM who has made a notable contribution to the Institute of Cape Wine Masters (ICWM), wine education or the wine industry in general. Duimpie, who passed away a month ago in August, was one of the original Cape Wine Masters to qualify in 1984. The award was handed to his widow Sue and his son Gregg,
Duimpie attained his BSc at the University of Stellenbosch in the fifties, his masters in Viticulture and Oenology at the University of California, Davis, in the sixties, and a Professional Management Diploma (PDM) at the Harvard Business School – or as he described it, ‟bringing the university of wine to the university of business‟.
He mastered his tasting skills during his initial stints working in the laboratory and cellars of the Stellenbosch Farmers’ Winery (SFW) from 1962 onwards and then as group operations director. During his career of more than fifty years in the industry he represented SFW, later Distell, on many wine industry bodies until his retirement in 2013.
Designated KWV Wine Personality of the Year in 1999, Duimpie served in various capacities on the boards of institutions such as the Biodiversity & Wine Initiative (BWI), Agri-Expo, the SA National Wine Show Association (Veritas and the SA Young Wine Show), the Technical Committee of the Wine & Spirit Board, the Demarcation Committee of the Wine of Origin System and the Cape Vintner Classification (CVC). He was also honorary life president of the SA Society of Enology & Viticulture (SASEV), which also gave him a merit award in 1986. He was also a founder member of the Pinotage Association and sought-after as judge on many wine and brandy competitions.
Duimpie also played a key role in the establishment of the Institute for Grape and Wine Sciences (IGWS) at his alma mater, Stellenbosch University, in 2013.
Jacques Steyn (chairperson) and Sue and Gregg Bayly with the Dave Hughes Award, posthumously awarded to Duimpie Bayly