Duimpie Bayly - A tribute at the Tabernacle

On 12 October 2021, a group of wine enthusiasts gathered for an intimate tasting in the holy of the holies - Distell's Tabernacle of Wine - to pay tribute to a South African wine legend and pioneer. Francis 'Duimpie' Bayly sadly passed away earlier this year, and 12 October was the great man's birthday. Esteemed wine writers Michael Fridjhon and Tim James, including Bennie Howard, Joaquim Sa (Amorim Cork), Albert Gerber (Durbanville Hills) and Richard Rushton (CEO of Distell) paid homage to Duimpie with a line-up of exquisite old classic SA wines, many of which Duimpie had a hand in producing. This wine-library-slash-museum remains one of Distell's best kept secrets and boasts an unsurpassed collection of South African wine that stretches back almost a century.