Alpana Singh
Alpana Singh (born 1976) is a sommelier and local television personality in Chicago, Illinois.
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[edit] Career
Singh passed the Court of Master Sommeliers' advanced certification test at age 21.[1] In 2003, she passed the final exam[2] to become the youngest woman ever to achieve the rank of Master Sommelier.[3] (The master sommelier exam has an approximate 3% pass rate.[1])
Beginning at age 23, she served as sommelier at Chicago's Everest.[1] She later became Director of Wine and Spirits for Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, a large Chicago-based chain of restaurants.[2]
Singh has become especially well known for hosting the local Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) public television station WTTW's restaurant review show, Check, Please! and her regular appearances on Chicago Tonight for the "Ask Alpana" segment on Thursday evenings. She replaced the original host of Check, Please!, Amanda Puck, in October 2003.
Singh is also the author of the 2006 book Alpana Pours: About Being a Woman, Loving Wine, and Having Great Relationships (ISBN 0-89733-546-5) and writes a column on wine for RedEye.
[edit] Personal life
She is a first-generation Indian American, born and raised in Monterey, California. Her parents are Fiji Indians who migrated from Fiji to California.[2]
In 2006, Singh married fiction writer Charles Blackstone.[2]
[edit] Honors and accolades
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- 2006 Wine & Spirits Professional of the Year by Bon Appetit magazine
- Best Sommelier in America by Wine and Spirits magazine
- Crain's Chicago Business 40 Under 40
- Food & Wine's 35 Under 35
- Best Sommelier (2004) by Chicago magazine
- 30 Under 30 (2006) by Jane magazine
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b c White, Sara D. "40 Under 40" profile, Crain's Chicago Business, 2001.
- ^ a b c d Profile at Master Sommeliers.org
- ^ "Sommelier Prodigy - Alpana Singh", Tastemakers profile at Food & Wine, September 2003
