Following another annual Emmy harvest, FX’s hit series The Bear returned to Hulu this week, along with star Jeremy Allen White’s infinity-pool eyes.
Like most fans of The Bear, we went into the new season with two big questions: Would it be as depressing as season 3? And would season 4 finally bring the wine?!
Dear Reader, the answers to those questions are a resounding “sort of” to the former and a very loud “Yes, Chef!” to the latter. And that’s as close we’ll get to spoiling this meal for you before warning that there are minor spoilers ahead!
We promise not to give away any of the major plot developments (because there aren’t any! ba-dum-tss), but there are major wine developments, and isn’t wine what we came for?
Who is sommelier Alpana Singh from The Bear?
Bearophiles will recall that in season 3 of The Bear, beloved former baseball player Sweeps (Corey Hendrix) was having a lot of trouble with his corkscrew … and that concluded season 3’s wine service! So we’re thrilled to reveal that Sweeps, aka Gary, is back in the sommelier saddle in a big way, but not without first getting a very helpful professional hand from a Chicago wine legend.
Sommelier, restaurateur and TV host Alpana Singh joins The Bear in episode 2 as Sweeps’ wine mentor, and we watch as she coaches him through pairing lighter red wines with fish and how wines change as they age, and she helps him capture some of the passion for wine that drives her own career.
Singh tells Sweeps that wine is “a liquid snapshot of time—that moment, what was happening that year. What the summer was like; what the rain was like. It captures that and puts it in a bottle.”
In the real world, Singh was the first North American woman of color to earn a place on the exclusive Court of Master Sommeliers, and later was among those who renounced their coveted Master Sommelier titles. She hosted Chicago PBS’ Check, Please! for a decade, and now owns her own wine-driven restaurant, Alpana.
“Yup! That's me [on The Bear],” Singh shared on Instagram. “Words can’t fully capture how grateful I am for the opportunity to be a part of this groundbreaking show. The entire experience felt like a fever dream.”
“A very special thank you to Corey Hendrix—it was an absolute honor to share the screen with you. I’m so excited for audiences to watch Sweeps' wine journey unfold and how meaningful this character is for anyone who has chosen to follow a similar path.”
Sweeps’ wine journey continues in two subsequent episodes. As he gains confidence in his wine knowledge, Sweeps tells (flirts with?!) chef Sydney (Ayo Edebiri) that he’s found a $50 wine that tastes like a $200 wine. And he’s studying—with a stack of wine reference books making an episode 5 cameo, including Richard Betts’ Essential Scratch & Sniff Guide to Becoming a Wine Expert (2013).
Betts, another former Master Sommelier who renounced the title in 2020, was taken by surprise when he started hearing from people who had spotted the book on screen. “The support has been special,” Betts told Wine Spectator, “and I know myself and co-authors Crystal English Sacca and Wendy McNaughton are super proud to have it included.”
“I’m also so pleased to see [The Bear] taking such an interest in wine,” continued Betts, who makes his own wines and spirits now. “It reflects the true nature of dining as well as insight on the part of the producers, who have assembled the best advisors, such as Will Guidara. Wine could use a boost these days … and I’m most hopeful the show will bring more people to it.”
Is the new season of The Bear fun to watch?
Season 4 of The Bear has some great moments, not just in the kitchen of the show’s namesake restaurant, but also in our scrappy cooks’ very humble home kitchens. But for the most part, it’s another heavy season of emotionally draining flashbacks and self-reflection that is only saved by the women who have clearly become both the stars and heroes of The Bear.
While Carmy (White) and Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) and their puppy dog blue eyes spend most of the season moping, chefs Sydney and Tina (Liza Colón-Zayas), business manager Sugar (Abby Elliott), expediter Jessica (Sarah Ramos), ex-girlfriend Claire (Molly Gordon) and even Carmy’s mom (Jamie Lee Curtis) are rescuing not only the restaurant but also the men who are failing both it and them. Those women are also carrying the season, and will no doubt collect the lioness’ share of the show’s 2025 Emmy nominations, with episode 4, starring and co-written by Edebiri, leading the way.
Season 4 also brings back many of our favorite friends and family from season 2’s legendary Feast of the Seven Fishes, and the always delightful Rob Reiner is a welcome new addition to the cast.
But this viewer’s takeaway from the newest season of The Bear is that women make the world run, and they’ve all more than earned their next glass of wine (and then some).
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