Wine Girl: The Obstacles, Humiliations, and Triumphs of America's Yougest Sommelier

· HarperCollins
4.3
3 reviews
Ebook
313
Pages
Eligible

About this ebook

An affecting memoir from the country’s youngest sommelier, tracing her path through the glamorous but famously toxic restaurant world 


At just twenty-one, the age when most people are starting to drink (well, legally at least), Victoria James became the country’s youngest sommelier at a Michelin-starred restaurant. Even as Victoria was selling bottles worth hundreds and thousands of dollars during the day, passing sommelier certification exams with flying colors, and receiving distinction from all kinds of press, there were still groping patrons, bosses who abused their role and status, and a trip to the hospital emergency room.

It would take hitting bottom at a new restaurant and restorative trips to the vineyards where she could feel closest to the wine she loved for Victoria to re-emerge, clear-eyed and passionate, and a proud leader of her own Michelin-starred restaurant.

Exhilarating and inspiring, Wine Girlis the memoir of a young woman breaking free from an abusive and traumatic childhood on her own terms; an ethnography of the glittering, high-octane, but notoriously corrosive restaurant industry; and above all, a love letter to the restorative and life-changing effects of good wine and good hospitality.

Ratings and reviews

4.3
3 reviews
Kristen Murphy
April 11, 2020
Read this. Beginning with an extremely difficult home life, Victoria found restaurants as a refuge. Her grit and determination oozes off of every page as she moves from greasy spoon dinrs to Michelin star restaurants in NYC. Throughout the book, she is confronted with intense misogyny, abuse, and sexual assault. Even when confronted with these seemingly insurmountable challenges, Victoria excels and finds a kindred spirit who values her intelligence and grit.
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About the author

Victoria James has worked in restaurants since she was thirteen. She was certified as a sommelier when she was twenty-one, making her the youngest sommelier in the country. She was Food & Wine’s Sommelier of the Year in 2018, and has appeared on both Forbes and Zagat’s “30 Under 30” lists. She has worked at some of the most prestigious restaurants in New York City, including Marea and Aureole. Currently, she is the Beverage Director and partner at Cote, a Michelin-starred hot spot in the Flatiron district. She is the author of Drink Pink: A Celebration of Rosé, which Harper Design published in 2017.

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