An affecting memoir from your country’s youngest sommelier, tracing her route through the glamorous but famously toxic cafe world

At only twenty-one, this when most people are starting to beverage (well, legally at least), Victoria James became the country’s youngest sommelier at a Michelin-starred restaurant. Even while Victoria was selling bottles well worth hundreds and thousands during the day, moving sommelier certification exams with flying colours, and receiving variation from about Wine Young lady: The Hurdles, Humiliations, and Triumphs of America’s Youngest Sommelier all sorts of press, there were still groping customers, bosses who abused their function and position, and a vacation a healthcare facility emergency room.

It would take hitting bottom at a fresh cafe and restorative vacations towards the vineyards where she could feel closest to your wine she loved for Victoria to re-emerge, clear-eyed and passionate, and a proud “wine female” of her own Michelin-starred restaurant.

Exhilarating and motivating, Wine Girl is the memoir of a young woman breaking free from an abusive and traumatic childhood on her own personal terms; an ethnography from the glittering, high-octane, but notoriously corrosive restaurant industry; and most importantly, a love letter to the restorative and life-changing effects of great wine and good hospitality.