The World According to Alpana

It was the end of a third consecutive week of well below-normal winter temperatures, and master sommelier Alpana Singh was just back from balmy Argentina. So who would have blamed the author and television host were she less than thrilled when arriving in Chicago’s western suburbs for a meet-and-greet at The Cellar Door wine shop?

Instead, Alpana brought her charm and considerable knowledge along, and turned them both up a notch for a throng of wine lovers eager to walk away with a signed copy of Alpana’s new book. We were there to observe and converse, thanks to the shop’s owner Sean Chaudhry, who also is a HinsdaleCellars.com co-founder.

The Alpana Singh story is fairly remarkable, not unlike that of a winemaker who finds just the right plot of vineyard land and suddenly finds himself producing one epic cult vintage after another simply by doing what his instincts dictate.

Alpana was a young woman working as a wine shop clerk in Carmel, Calif., admittedly not a bad place to start a career, but she only learned later that this was in fact a starting point. She became enamored of wine, its culture and the world it opened to her. In rapid fire succession, she went to work in a restaurant, learned the nuts and bolts, earned her preliminary sommelier stripes and scored a huge job as sommelier at Chicago’s acclaimed Everest restaurant. This was four years ago.

At 27, she became the youngest person in history to earn Master Sommelier status, and one of the few women sommeliers worldwide.

Late last year, she released her book, “Alpana Pours: About Being a Woman, Loving Wine and Having Great Relationships”. Today she is director of wine and spirits for the formidable Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, a fine restaurant holding company in Chicago.

We attempted, futility, to get Alpana to slam some of her male sommelier counterparts, but she stayed squarely on the high road. (Hey, we tried). No headlines here. Alpana’s principal goal professionally is to encourage consumers to open their eyes, experiment with unconventional winemakers and mystery grapes and create their own brand of connoisseurship.

“The major trend that I see is the globalization of wine, which is not necessarily a bad thing,” she said as a mostly female clientele buzzed around her. “We’re getting more quality wines from appellations that were not on the scene a few years ago, like Argentina, or New Zealand, even South Africa, which has been making wines for hundreds of years. I think as consumers are becoming more globally aware they are not afraid to try wines from (emerging regions).”

Alpana’s personality and hearty, booming laugh attracts attention. She scored her Everest job in her mid-20s after a chance encounter with Chef Jean Joho. After coming to Chicago, she landed a role as host of a popular PBS program, Check, Please. Among the wine inspired and foodie set in Chicago, she has attained celebrity status. Yet, in 2007 she will only be turning 31.

In case you are wondering, Alpana says the demise of Merlot is greatly exaggerated. She tells the hilarious story about imagining Clark Swanson as he watched the landmark wine move Sideways for the first time. Who is Clark Swanson? He is heir to the Swanson frozen dinner fortune and, notably, leading owner of Merlot vineyards in Napa Valley.

“Sales are great, life’s good, you’re the largest owner of Merlot vineyards in the country, and all of a sudden that famous scene happens (in Sideways, where the main character played by Paul Giamatti completely trashes Merlot and eloquently raises the stature of Pinot Noir),” Alpana says.

“I am surprised he didn’t choke on a fishstick! So Clark is on a mission now, traveling the country, defending Merlot.”

And Alpana is on a mission, too, making the pursuit and appreciation of exceptional wine a natural extension of the 30-something lifestyle.