Episode 195: How the Fake Somm on ‘The Bear’ Learned Real Skills

When The Bear first premiered, it was widely-hailed for accurately capturing the high-intensity chaos of restaurant life. With each new season, the show has dived deeper into the emotional complexities that come with working in the industry for characters who have made it their life’s work. But, for certain viewers, it felt like the show was missing a crucial component—wine—especially when talking about a restaurant that is aiming for a Michelin star.

On The Bear’s fourth season, which premiered on June 25th, wine finally got its time to shine. Though food remains the central focus of the restaurant, wine finally gets its fair share of airtime in multiple episodes this go around. 

In episode two, called “Soubise,” Gary “Sweeps” Woods, The Bear’s resident sommelier-in-training, meets with trailblazing former Master Sommelier and restaurateur Alpana Singh. Making a cameo as herself, the Chicago-based industry pro gives the burgeoning somm some hands-on tips.

For this week’s podcast, we invited both Singh and Corey Hendrix, the actor who plays “Sweeps,” on to talk about what it means to portray a wine pro on television, wine stereotypes and what real representation in wine media actually looks like.

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