Wine girl : the obstacles, humiliations, and triumphs of America's youngest sommelier

Title:

Author:

Summary:

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 "wine girl" 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.

Edition:

First edition.

Physical Description:

xii, 316 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Genre:

Personal narratives.

Personal Subject:

James, Victoria (Sommelier)

Subject Term:

Sommeliers -- Biography.

Restaurateurs -- Biography.

Wine and wine making -- Biography.

Publisher:

Ecco, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers,

Publication Date:

2020

ISBN:

9780062961679

Publication Information:

New York, NY : Ecco, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, [2020]

Call Number:

641.2 JAMES

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Item Barcode	Collection	Call Number	Status	Item Holds
33607003473678	Adult Nonfiction	641.2 JAMES	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

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Summary

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

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.

Reviews (2)

Publisher's Weekly Review

In this gritty, eloquent memoir, James, who became the country's youngest sommelier at 21, talks about overcoming sexual assault and sexism as she built a career in the restaurant business. The book, which spans James's life from age seven to 28, opens with an overview of her unstable childhood, which included an absent mother and alcoholic father. James worked in greasy diners as a teenager and painfully describes being raped by a customer after a shift. She briefly turned to drugs after the attack, then got clean and moved to New York, where she landed a bartending job at an Italian restaurant. Her first sommelier job was at Michelin-starred Aureole, where she learned how to make wine recommendations and how to scan a customer's appearance to determine how much money they might spend. Often dismissed by customers who disliked taking advice from a woman, she relentlessly studied wine and won awards, among them the prestigious Sud de France Sommelier Challenge. James grippingly discusses working at several high-end restaurants and wading through ugly swamps of unwanted advances and crude comments before finding a happy home at Michelin-starred Cote, where she is the beverage director. This is a captivating story of resilience from a sommelier who hustled hard to conquer her profession. (Mar.)

Library Journal Review

James became the youngest sommelier at a U.S. Michelin-starred restaurant at the age of 21. How she got there is the focus of this warm and enjoyable memoir. Growing up, James knew little about food and even less about wine. She began her hospitality career waitressing at a diner when she was just 13. Work was not only a way to earn cash, but also a way to escape her dysfunctional family, if only for a few hours at a time. Bartending at a small Italian restaurant in New York exposed her to wine; in order to learn more, she went to an industry wine tasting class and eventually found her new career. The requirements for a good sommelier are steep: a strong palate, masses of memorization, and serious customer service skills. James kept pursuing the career, despite having her youth and gender used against her; she was frequently dismissed and harassed. VERDICT While informative about what it takes to become a sommelier, the focus of this moving memoir is more on James's personal journey. A satisfying read overall.--Devon Thomas, Chelsea, MI