NEW YORK– Master Sommelier Alpana Singh is as rare and ebullient as some of the fine wines she recommends to people. Singh became the youngest person to pass the Court of Master Sommeliers' advanced certification exam at the age of 21. She achieved another milestone in the wine profession by clearing the final exam to become the youngest person in the world to get the rank of Master Sommelier in 2003. This tough-as-nails exam has a tiny 3% pass rate. Singh now belongs to an exclusive club of wine experts. There are 180 Master Sommeliers worldwide and only 19 including Singh are women.

Singh’s accomplishment is remarkable considering she grew up in a Hindu home where wine wasn’t touched. Her parents who ran a grocery store in California wanted her to become a doctor, but Singh was drawn to the restaurant industry. Her parents weren't onboard until Singh became the youngest person ever to pass the Court of Master Sommeliers' advanced exam.

“When I told my mother I wanted to be a sommelier she asked what part of the body a sommelier specialized in? I said the liver,” chirped Singh, who is the Director of Wine and Spirits for the Chicago-headquartered LEYE restaurant group and presides over their wine cellars.

Singh along with Top Chef television host Padma Laxmi, restaurateur Rohini Dey and chef Maneet Chauhan headlined a sold-out panel discussion hosted by “The Economist” on Indian women in the US food industry, over a five-course dinner at Vermilion, in New York.

“The best way to learn about wine is to drink it,” said Singh, who has done her homework reading up on wine regions, wine-making, appellation laws and grape varieties.

Singh’s accomplishment is remarkable considering she grew up in a Hindu home where wine wasn’t touched.

“I’m naturally a very curious person and the beauty of wine is that the subject matter is so multifaceted. You can literally spend an entire year just learning about different types of soil,” added Singh, who has authored the bestselling, “Alpana Pours: About Being a Woman, Loving Wine and Having Great Relationships.”

Singh was mobbed as she stepped off the dais at the Vermilion Restaurant by audience members eager to get tips on how to match some of the flavors in wine with Indian food.

“Indian food goes well with Prosecco, older white wines and fresh and fruity red wines such as Pinot Noir, Gamay or Barbera that has been slightly chilled. Prosecco works well since it is lower in alcohol and the fresh apricot and peach flavors help balance the heat from the chili and spices. The bubbles also provide refreshment for your palate between bites,” said Singh as people typed notes, at times so intensely that an observer might think Singh was divulging her deepest, darkest secrets.

She added; “Older whites such as Chardonnay, Vouvray or Semillon can be a pleasant match with the brown spices used in curry. Red wine works well too but I find chilling them down slightly helps fend off the heat from spicier dishes.”

“I always thought wine was something reserved only for the elite upper classes and in order to enjoy it you had to know a lot about it. Wine can be very intimidating and I was pleasantly surprised to learn that it is just the opposite.”

There are four exams to pass in order to attain the designation of Master Sommelier — an Introductory Course, the Certified Exam, the Advanced Exam and then the final Master Sommelier exam. Singh passed the Advanced Exam when she was 21 and the Master Sommelier exam by the age of 26. She became interested in wine while waiting tables at a fine dining restaurant in her hometown of Monterey, California.

“At first, I wanted to know just enough to be able to explain wine to my customers in order to increase my check average and make more money but then I found that I genuinely became interested in the subject. My parents did not drink wine while I was growing up and most of my friends at the time were into vodka and cranberry juice,” Singh told MTV Iggy.

“I always thought wine was something reserved only for the elite upper classes and in order to enjoy it you had to know a lot about it. Wine can be very intimidating and I was pleasantly surprised to learn that it is just the opposite.”

Singh now hosts the local PBS television station WTTW's restaurant review show, Check, Please! and appears regularly on Chicago Tonight for the "Ask Alpana" segment.