Wine Girl is a memoir by Victoria James, one of the youngest sommelier who was certified at only 21 years old! Throughout the memoir we see the many childhood and teenage moments that came together to make her young adult career such a success. Victoria did not have the picture perfect upbringing that we often attribute to highly successful careers in in people under 30, but the challenges she faced growing up were actually part of the recipe for success. From her father's unrealistic home schooling expectations and her eventually skipping grades at public school, thus being in the adult world a bit early, to her family's lack of food which led to resourcefulness and an ability to do more with less, to the necessity for her to provide for herself and her siblings at a young age and thus her entry into the restaurant world in her early teens gaining experience and wisdom well beyond her chronological age, Victoria's story proves that hard beginnings can be turned around if you have the passion to do so.
I enjoyed learning more about the sommelier industry, as well as what life in New York City restaurants is like. The wine industry is huge and complicated with historical roots, and not an industry I know very much about! That being said, Victoria did a fantastic job explaining things as the story went along, almost as if I was learning along side her. She also introduced a shady cast of characters that played a variety of roles in her transition through young adulthood and into the restaurant world. Each person had a different role in teaching her a lesson, from understanding the roles of each member of a restaurant staff, to putting her in dangerous situations, to teaching her everything she needed to know about wine. This industry is not for the faint of heart, and Victoria certainly proved that while telling even the most private moments of her journey in an honest, tell-all memoir.
This book is great for anyone who is looking for a memoir written by a successful woman, as well as anyone interested in the wine and restaurant industry or the journey one takes to become a sommelier. It is well written, easy to follow and a very interesting story.
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