Asia’s Best Sommelier Della Tang, of Shenzhen’s Ensue, on her meteoric rise in the wine industry and why it’s important to ‘believe in yourself’
- Tang, winner of the first Asia’s Best Sommelier Award, became beverage director at Shenzhen fine-dining restaurant Ensue in 2019 with no wine-buying experience
- The 29-year-old Le Cordon Bleu alumnus talks about how she rose to the challenge, wine pairings for food, and the advice she’d give young women in the industry
Four years after starting her career in wine, with Shenzhen’s trailblazing Ensue firmly on the influential Asia’s 50 Best restaurants list, its 29-year-old beverage director, Della Tang, became the first recipient of the newly launched Asia’s Best Sommelier Award.
For many of those who have watched Tang’s career, it might seem that success was always imminent for China’s rising wine star.
From graduating with a degree in psychology in Los Angeles and having the freedom to change lanes and pursue a wine and management diploma at Le Cordon Bleu in France, to landing her first sommelier job at the age of 25, it’s true that Tang had much stacked in her favour before even stepping onto a restaurant floor.
On top of that, getting an opportunity to manage a beverage programme at a high-profile restaurant fresh out of school and without any wine-buying or management experience is almost unheard of.
