With perfectly poured beer, innovative food and pub classics of the highest order, plus a cellar that only a rolled-gold wine nerd could pull together, everyone’s a winner at the Victory.
Western culture usually depicts eternal paradise with fluffy clouds, pearly gates and old bearded blokes in robes deciding who can come in. They’ve got it wrong. The entrance to heaven looks a lot like the front door of the Victory Hotel. Thirsty travellers, following the slow coast road down the Fleurieu Peninsula, have been refuelling themselves at the Victory since 1858. Some even managed to continue their onward journeys.
In that entire 165 years, it’s never been better than now. It’s been Doug Govan’s pub for the past 30-odd years, and in the same way dogs come to look like their owners, the Victory has come to reflect his enduring passions – perfectly poured beer, innovative food and pub classics of the highest order, and the kind of cellar that only a rolled-gold wine nerd like Govan could pull together. Everyone’s a winner at the Victory.
The short answer to this question is “whatever the hell you want”. Simply put, this is one of the greatest wine collections in the country, and you owe it to yourself to come and plunder it like a thirsty Viking. The best thing about the wine offering at the Victory is the careful consideration applied at every price point. There’s some serious set dressing at the top end, for sure, but those of more modest means can be assured that whatever they spend on wine, they’re getting real bang for those bucks.
And it’s all there for you to get up close and personal. Your search for a great bottle begins with a descent into the main cellar, and it’s here you’ll find a definitive representation of nearby McLaren Vale as well as virtually every other wine of significance from around the country. There’s plenty of older vintages, too, at mark-ups much closer to retail than restaurant. There are a couple of smaller cellars running off the main cellar. One houses arguably the best collection of the mythical Wendouree wines outside the winery itself, and another a vault of a staggeringly good Burgundy selection that, despite prices that can push deep into four figures, represents surprisingly good value.
If all that choice becomes too hard, you can’t go wrong with any of the beautifully made Rudderless wines that come from publican Doug Govan’s own meticulously maintained vineyard on the hillside behind the pub.
The kitchen at the Victory nails pub classics without cliche, and displays skills with Asian flavours that go above and beyond, but it takes real determination to read the menu in this place and not immediately order something pulled fresh from the shimmering Gulf waters you can see through the window.
The Chablis section of the cellar is deep and exists primarily to partner salt and pepper squid caught off nearby Myponga Beach. If you’re really serious, you can see for yourself why the combination of Kangaroo Island King George whiting and the sublime wines of Domaine Raveneau makes grown men cry.
