Mid-September, London’s Savoy Hotel hosted the World’s Best Wine Lists Awards 2025, where the global hospitality world gathered to celebrate the finest wine programs.
Among the winners was South Australia’s own Doug Govan of the Victory Hotel, who was honoured with the Guiding Spirit Award for Wine in Hospitality, an accolade recognising “the outstanding achievements and influence of prominent individuals from the world of wine hospitality.”
For those who know South Australia’s wine scene, Doug’s name is mentioned with reverence. But for those unfamiliar with the man who claimed top honours, here’s the scoop.
Doug’s story in wine began at just 20, working under Derik Jolly – one of the last of the Penfolds family – where he ran a bar and nightclub and, as he puts it, learnt “a lot about Australian wine.”
From there, he opened his own nightclub and restaurant, My Place, before buying the Victory Hotel at 30 and Aldinga’s Star of Greece soon after.
The Victory is where he’s spent decades building one of the most respected cellars in the country, giving McLaren Vale locals a window into the wider world of wine, impossible to replicate in the Vale’s climate.
“When I bought the Victory, I planted a five-acre vineyard around the hotel,” Doug says.
“Then me and a lot of local winemakers, we all used to get together and drink. We’d open bottles from interstate and overseas and get excited over them.”
Around the same time, acclaimed winemaker Rob Mann – “one of Australia’s greatest”- rang him from the Len Evans Tutorial and said, “You have to get hold of some of this.” This was Burgundy.
“That was my introduction into Burgundy,” Doug recalls.
An introduction that ignited a love affair. Burgundy became a fixture of both the Victory Hotel and Star of Greece, alongside Piedmont’s Barolo and Barbaresco.
The Victory’s cellar now runs 20 metres by 5 metres, branching into two tunnels – one dedicated to Wendouree and another to magnums.
“We have probably maybe a thousand on the list,” Doug says, describing it as a “tour through global wine regions.”
Over the years, that list has attracted international attention. Wendouree dinners, Billecart-Salmon champagne poured in the presence of Anton Billecart himself. Even Sir David Attenborough and billionaire Gordon Getty – who flew over in his 737 with seven guests and two bodyguards – have dropped in.
“We’re lucky enough that because of the wines we sourced from interstate and overseas that we’ve attracted a global crowd,” Doug says.
The Victory remains very much a hands-on experience for guests, with Doug’s 23-year-old daughter working alongside long-time manager Matt to help guide people through the cellar and the extensive list.
When the email about the Guiding Spirit Award landed while Doug was in Puglia, he didn’t believe it at first.
“At first I thought it was a hoax… when I got back, I suddenly realised it was real,” he laughs.
“It’s so fantastic. As a personal achievement, and also putting the Victory on a global scale.”
The award places him in the company of some of the world’s most influential wine figures, including Pascaline Lepeltier, Josep Roca of three-Michelin-starred El Celler de Can Roca in Spain, and Harald Bresselschmidt of Cape Town’s Aubergine Restaurant.
For Doug, the most humbling part is seeing his name alongside theirs.
“To see people in that same list – they’re iconic, world-renowned. Three Michelin-hatted restaurants, just incredible. I simply don’t know why I was chosen.”
He might simply not know, but it seems the local community might. The Victory’s announcement post was quickly flooded with messages of support.
“It feels really lovely that so many people back you and support you,” Doug says.
And the good news doesn’t stop there. With new Head Chef Glen Worrall now at the helm, more wine dinners planned, and the cellar list available online, the Victory Hotel is ready to build on this global acclaim. “Watch this space.”
What: Victory Hotel’s Doug Govan awarded Guiding Spirit Award for Wine in Hospitality
When: London’s Savoy Hotel, September 15 2025
For the Victory Hotel website, click here.
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For the full list of award recipients, click here.
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