Coming to Get You, Wines Snobs.
Award-winning writers Rick Kushman and Paul Wagner are back to kick off Season 4 of their podcast war against wine snobs on Nov. 2 after delaying the start because of the wine country wildfires.
“Our hearts go out to so many people who suffered such painful losses in our beloved wine country,” Kushman says. “We didn’t think giggling and silliness were the appropriate responses right away.”
“Not that anyone has ever accused us of being appropriate,” says Wagner. “We live and work in Napa, and we cannot say thank you enough to all the first responders who kept our communities safe. The outpouring of support for our region has been heartwarming.”
Kushman and Wagner say now seems right to giggle again about wine, so Bottle Talk with Rick and Paul is back for Season 4. “We know the best thing to keep wine country strong is to return to our normal routines,” Kushman says. “That includes airing Bottle Talk to encourage a laugh or two, and to provide a convenient object of ridicule.”
On Nov. 9, Bottle Talk will air a special episode looking at the aftereffects of the wildfires. The show is recorded at Capital Public Radio in Sacramento and includes questions from listeners, interviews, wine recommendations and an all-out assault on wine babble wherever it appears. Which, Kushman and Wagner say, seems to be everywhere.
Kushman is the author of the New York Times bestseller The Barefoot Spirit, the story of the founding and unique marketing of Barefoot Cellars. He is an award-wining journalist and the wine commentator for Capital Public Radio, Sacramento’s NPR affiliate. He works in the industry and is based in Napa.
Wagner teaches wine classes at Napa Valley College and the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone. With Liz Thach and Janeen Olsen, he authored the book: Wine Marketing & Sales, Strategies for a Saturated Market, which won the Gourmand International Award for the best wine book of the year for professionals. He’s also a regular contributor to Allexperts.com on wine and beverages.
Kushman and Wagner have earned acclaim for their light-hearted, friendly take on wine, and for their good-natured attacks on wine snobs and bad wine writing. “We think we’ve broken new ground in the conversation about wine because we’re using a language we call Normal English,” says Kushman.
“Some local wineries turn on the show in the cellar for their employees, which is a very nice compliment,” Wagner says. “We also think the employees must be really bored to need us.”
Bottle Talk with Rick and Paul airs a new segment every Thursday at 10 a.m. Pacific time at http://www.rickandpaulwine.com/ and on the Capital Public Radio and iTunes podcast lineups. Prior shows are available on the site, as is information about sponsorship.
