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Restaurant | Chefs | Reviews | Menu | Cellar |
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"No where will you buy better, fresher, simple seafood, or more succulent steaks"
"And then there's the wine cellar, Oh my....Pubs with great wine lists? The Exeter. The Wheatsheaf in Thebarton. But the Victory is the best. You may know another; its not jumping to my mind"
"wines from temples so great and rare that I never mention them." |
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"100 Favourite Restaurants"
Robb Report.com
The Editor
2009 Bentley Mega-Coupe, May 2008
View Online Article |
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"Owner Doug Govan encourages diners to peruse his collection of wines, which features selections from the McLaren Vale region of Australia. "It’s a cellar that any Michelin-star chef would envy," says Reid Bosward of Kaesler in Nuriootpa, Australia, "with prices that would make them cry."
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"Better Than Beer"
"WINE PUBS" The Australian Way - Qantas Magazine
July 2007, pg 59
Download Review (pdf 172kb) |
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"Top Night on The Hill"
Peter Wood - The Advertiser - Social Scene
3 May 2007, pg40
Score - 8.5/10
Download Review (pdf 540kb) |
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"It's as good a place to stop as any of the nearby wineries or restaurants and has sensational views of the coastline. The big car park at the front is often filled with dusty utes and motorbikes - not because it's one of those dingy front-bar haunts but because the Victory has plenty of fans....Plenty of people breeze in and out of the front bar for a Coopers fix without realising there are local and imported treasures hidden beneath the floor."
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"Watering Holes"
David Sly - SA Life
Sep 2006 Vol3 Num9, pg92
Download Review (pdf 264kb) |
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"The view over Gulf St Vincent is sensational, the wine lists superb, and the food is a model of smart regional cuisine presented at its freshest and most delicious." |
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"The Big Squeeze"
Phillip White
The Advertiser - Food & Wine
5 Apr 2006, pg7
Download Review (pdf 636kb) |
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"With much of this year's grape pick over, the reality of the grape glut is sinking in for many growers.." |
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"Victory Hotel chosen in top 45 World Wine Lists"
Gourmet Traveller WINE
Dec/Jan 2006
Download Review (pdf 1.9mb) |
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"Wine, good wine and excellent range of it - this not a fancy gastro-pub, just an old-fashioned boozer that happens to also stock a range of excellent drops, mostly Australian..." |
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"Victory's Hat Trick"
Deborah Bogle - The Advertiser
23 Nov 2006, pg F-3
Download Review (pdf 452kb) |
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"A casual pub has finally teamed its magnificant views and excellent cellar with a menu to match" |
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"Victory' for Hotel Chef"
On the Coast
Nov 2005, pg2
Download Review (pdf 472kb) |
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"Karena Dunn, chef at the Victory Hotel in Sellicks, was named 2005 Fleurieu Peninsula Food Chef of the Region at the Fiesta! awards night on October 29 at Coriole Winery" |
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"Full bottle on pubs' grub"
Tony Baker - The Advertiser
6 Aug 2005, pg38 |
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"The Victory, high on the main road hill at Sellicks Beach, looks across the sandy beaches and gentle countryside of Fleurieu Peninsula. I took the English side of my family there. Only one of the reasons though.
A second was to get the feel of a true front bar. A third was to eat proper food, on the lawns as well as in the main room. A fourth was to let them in on the surprise - Doug Govan keeps one of the most extraordinary cellars in the state which is lavishly endowed with awesome wine lists." |
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"Always beer o'clock at these top tap spots"
The Adelaide Review
No 271, Jun 24 - Jul 7, 2005, pg15 |
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"Perched high up on Sellicks Hill at the southern end of McLaren Vale is Doug Govan's Victory Hotel. It's an amazing location with vistas stretching right across the gulf in either direction.
Govan runs a smart operation and has changed little of the look of the place in the 14 years he's had it, pouring his energy into the product and the experience instead. This place has real soul and it is well patronised by the locals, also drawing a big out-of-town crowd on the weekends for hearty lunches in the restaurant. They pour Coopers Pale, Coopers Sparkling, West End Draught, VB, Carlton Draught and Cascade Premium Light. Govan is pretty straight about the quality of the beer. "Basically, the secret to it here is Matt Radbone. He cleans the lines every Wednesday morning at 8:30am. The cleanliness of the lines is just so important,' he says. The beer certainly tastes fresh and true down here and Govan tells a convincing tale about the rise and rise of Coopers. "Ten years ago, pale would have only made up a very small percentage of the sales. It used to be all West End draught. Lots of people I speak to like the idea of a South Australian family-owned brewery and, besides, the beer tastes good." There's even a preference for Coopers in the kitchen with pale ale playing an essential role in the beer batter for the locally caught whiting.
The meals are universally excellent here and the talents of Karena Dunn (ex Icebergs, Sydney, and Melbourne Wine Room) are evident right throughout the menu." |
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"11 things you must do, see or eat in McLaren Vale"
Wine Enthusiast Magazine
Mar 2005, pg28 |
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"Grab a bite-and a bottle-at the Victory Hotel, which has the best cellar in town. Proprietor Doug Govan has hard-to-find Australian treasures, all of which are marked with prices so that customers can browse the cellar rather than read a wine list....Have a bite and bottle, shoot some pool, play the pokies and go dig for another good bottle." |
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"Coasting: Fish, chips and salt air"
Tony Love - The Advertiser
12 Jan 2005, pg2 |
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"The main road heads inland between Yankalilla and Sellicks Hill, where you come to the famous Victory Hotel on its high perch with sweeping gulf views.
Publican Doug Govan has a great wine cellar and a kitchen that does pretty good pub fare (fish and chips, pictured right, are the signature dish). Even the bar wines by the glass are great, announcing your arrival in the Southern Vales." |
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"The McLaren Vale Issue"
Divine Food & Wine
Issue 36, Mar - May 2004, pg41 |
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"The view from the Victory Hotel's beer garden pretty much takes in the whole of the vale, located as it is at the southern end of McLaren Vale.
Long time wine nerd Doug Govan is responsible for the dramatic transformation from sleepy country pub to wine drinker's nirvana: Riedel glassware is used extensively in the dining room; it has two of the best stocked cellars in the country (one Australian, the other aged or imported-both of which are very keenly priced); and, to top it off, the hotel is surrounded by a vineyard planted by Doug with cuttings from Wendouree, Torbreck, Seppelt, Leasingham, d'arenburg, Greenick Creek, etc.
The calamari is excellent (I had two serves) and the Coorong fillet steak is the best beef I have ever had in a pub. In fact, you would be hard pressed to find better pub food, let alone wine selection, anywhere in Australia. And if Doug joins your table for a drink, watch out; you're in for a long night." |
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"The McLaren Vale"
Gourmet Traveller - Wine |
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"The Victory Hotel sits on sellicks Hill overlooking the coastline - a great spot for sea-gazing over an ale or two....The meals are excellent and the portions substantial. Doug Govan's wine list offers an eclectic selection and at very good prices." |
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"Where to Eat"
The Australian Financial Review
16 - 18 Apr 2004, pg L6 |
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"Sick of wine and want a beer? Head for the Victory. Doug Govan's traditional country pub has one of the best cellars in the state....Not content with selling, cellaring and drinking the stuff, he now grows his own vineyard, which fronts the hotel." |
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"Be enticed into the Victory Hotel for a drink. There is a beer garden and a view that is well worth it...The underground cellar houses a fine selection of wine to choose from. Try the fresh local King George whiting." |
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