THE POUR-FECT MOVE

Anandhi Gopinath has a tête-à-tête with Madeline Teh, a Malaysian-born cellar sommelier in New York, about her journey from the beauty industry to the wonderful world of wine.

There are only five restaurants in New York granted three Michelin stars, and a Malaysian is a cellar sommelier in one of them. Madeline Teh, an entrepreneur-turned-wine aficionado, tells Prestige about her journey from running a nail salon in KL to selling wine in one of the Big Apple’s most prestigious establishments.

Prestige: From nails in Malaysia to wines in the US—what a fascinating journey indeed!

Madeline: That is true. My husband is Indonesian and has a lot of family in the US, so we did spend a lot of time there. We’d come back for a while to be closer to family, which is when I started Glitters Salon, and then it was time to go back. At the time, my business was not too big, so we agreed that I would split my time between both countries. It went on like that for a while, and in the meantime, the kids graduated from school. I had more time on my hands for my other interests, which included wine!

What year was this? 

It was 2019. I could plan my time around my classes, manage the business in KL, be with the kids in the US, and visit vineyards in Europe. I did my wine courses in Burgundy and Bordeaux as well as New York – basically, if it fit my schedule, I did it. Through the salon, I met people from all walks of life, many of whom are from the wine industry, and I benefitted greatly from all these relationships. But at the time, this was just a hobby! I kept passing the exams, so I simply kept going.