Wine Girl, Victoria James
Wine Girl, Victoria James
6 Rating(s)
List: $26.99 | Sale: $18.89
Club: $13.49

Wine Girl
The Trials and Triumphs of America’s Youngest Sommelier

Author: Victoria James

Narrator: Victoria James

Unabridged: 10 hr 28 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: HarperAudio

Published: 03/24/2020


Synopsis

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 Girl is 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.

About Victoria James

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.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Skyler on November 25, 2020

2.5 Stars I was really rooting for this book. I wanted it to be Sweetbitter mixed with Kitchen Confidential mixed with I Hear She's a Real Bitch but with amazing wine descriptions that send me running to my local wine shop. I wanted to come out of this book demanding I only drink Cabernet Sauvignon w......more

Goodreads review by Valentina on April 01, 2020

DNF -- credit where credit is due: becoming a sommelier at such a young age is incredibly impressive. i certainly don't want to invalidate what the author has gone through, but i cannot get past the writing here. it lacks any tension or self-reflection and very clearly works to make victoria the bat......more

Goodreads review by Jordan (Jordy’s Book Club) on December 04, 2020

QUICK TAKE: Part EDUCATED, part SWEETBITTER, WG is a great behind-the-scenes look at the restaurant industry (both the good and bad), though I wish James, as an industry leader, had discussed steps she’s currently taking (and the industry as a whole is taking) to prevent what happened to her (harass......more

Goodreads review by Kayla on November 06, 2020

I was really excited for this book, thinking it would be one of my favorite reads of the year. Good wine and a woman shaking up an old-man-dominated industry? Sign me up! But this fell FLAT and barely deserves two stars. To be fair though, credit is due... to be such a young sommelier is an incredib......more

Goodreads review by Shannon on February 21, 2020

Don’t be fooled into thinking that ‘Master Sommelier’ is simply a pretty label for someone that knows wine; The title was well earned. What Victoria lives through to be able to share her love of wine with people will break your heart, only to leave you amazed and inspired by how she found a way to th......more