Gérard Basset came to England in 1977 to see a football match and found he didn’t want to leave. He took any job he could find in kitchens around the country, but soon discovered a passion for front-of-house, and threw himself into learning everything about wine and immersing himself in the world of Michelin-starred restaurants.

Tasting Victory charts Gérard’s astronomical career in his own words. It recounts in detail how he managed to earn his unprecedented sequence of qualifications: he was one of the first individuals to hold the famously difficult Master of Wine qualification simultaneously with Master Sommelier and an MBA in Wine Business. But it is his pursuit of the most important award of all that forms the core of this book – how, at his seventh attempt, Gérard Basset was crowned the Best Sommelier of the World.

This memoir is not only the story of the making of a champion, but also a record of how fine dining in England grew from stale and unexciting to world-leading. Above all, it’s about succeeding against great odds: when he was diagnosed with cancer, Gérard responded in typical fashion, by deciding to write Tasting Victory, which he completed shortly before his death in January 2019.