This week, we catch up with Master Sommelier Alpana Singh. Singh is the director of wine and spirits for Chicago’s Lettuce Entertain you restaurant group in Chicago. She’s also the host of Check Please, Chicago’s popular PBS restaurant review show.
At 26, Singh was the youngest person ever to garner the Master Sommelier title. There are only 120 Master Sommeliers in the world, and only 13 women have earned the distinction in North America. The MS diploma exam includes a blind tasting of 6 wines, for which the sommelier must name the grape varietal, country of origin, district of origin, and vintage. This is certainly a monumental task, even for the most distinguished palate.
In the podcast interview we talk about fusion cooking, whether the newest generation of wine drinkers is being exposed to good wine, the hazards of dating a sommelier, and drinking champagne with Mahatma Ghandi, Bill Clinton, and Larry David.
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