When Victoria James became a sommelier at the age of 21, she was the youngest person to achieve that designation in America. It was an impressive feat made all the more remarkable by the fact that her childhood and teenage years were filled with economic hardship, mental abuse, and worse. In her hopeful and heartbreaking memoir Wine Girl, Victoria writes about her early years as well as her professional highlights and lowlights in fine dining and fancy wine, exposing the hypocrisies and inequities that exist in those worlds. Victoria joins host Kerry Diamond to talk about her book, the wine world’s Me Too moment, her new life as a mom and partner in the restaurant group behind the Cote Korean steakhouses in New York and Miami, and her partnership with Lenox. 

Thank you to Luke’s Lobster for supporting this episode. Use promo code CHERRY15 for 15% off all products at lukeslobster.com through March 31.

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More on Victoria: Instagram, Wine Girl, Cote NYC, WineEmpowered