Lush — Rochelle Dowden-Lord

For readers of Sweetbitter and The Paris Novel, an intoxicating debut novel set in the glamorous, exclusive, and unexpectedly raucous world of wine.



Four wine experts receive a mysterious invitation to an exclusive weekend tasting at a famous French vineyard. Avery is a cash-strapped sommelier and wine social media influencer; Sonny, a rich American who owns a popular but unimpressive wine brand; Maëlys, a French food and drink critic; and Cosmo, a sommelier who is one of the youngest Masters in the world.



It seems at first that these four have little in common except for their love of wine and their belief in its transformative power. But, as the quartet awaits the penultimate night of the trip, when they will taste the only bottle of one of the rarest wines in the world, it becomes clear that each of them grapples with a private crisis and projects their ultimate hopes and fears onto the contents of this bottle, a bottle rendered divine by age and scarcity.



Unfolding over several days of indulgence in delicious food and drink, raucous debauchery, and transformative truths that will leave each character changed forever, Lush is a sensuous tour of the wine industry's extreme pleasures and pains, a captivating summer read that, like a fine vintage, will linger long after you've finished turning the pages.