Award-winning writers Rick Kushman and Paul Wagner are taking their war against wine snobs to Fridays at 10 a.m. on both a podcast and broadcast on KVON AM 1440 radio in Napa, California. Recorded at Capital Public Radio in Sacramento, the show includes questions from listeners, interviews, wine recommendations, and an all-out assault on bad wine writing wherever it appears. That’s not hard to find, they say.
“We’re as surprised as anyone that we’re still on the air,” says Kushman. “We’ve broken new ground in the conversation about wine, and so far we haven’t broken anything in the studio, so that’s a plus.”
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, as well as a contributing host for the station’s highest profile show, “Insight.”
“We’re having a ton of fun with this show,” says Wagner. “We’ve gotten questions from listeners all over the country, and we’ve even answered some of them, albeit badly. Wine isn’t complicated. All you need to know is which end of the bottle to open. After that, it’s all fun.”
Wagner teaches wine classes at Napa Valley College and the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone. With Liz Thach and Janeen Olsen, he authored a 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 and he’s is a regular contributor to Allexperts.com on wine and beverages.
Both Kushman and Wagner have earned acclaim for their friendly and light-hearted take on wine, and their good-natured attacks on wine snobs and bad wine writing.
“We like to think of this as a wine show for normal people,” Wagner says. “Not that anyone has ever called us normal,” adds Kushman. “Some local wineries turn on the show in the cellar for the employees—and we think that’s a compliment. The employees reportedly laugh a lot. Hopefully with us, not at us.”
“Bottle Talk with Rick and Paul” airs a new segment every Friday at 10 a.m.Pacific time at http://www.rickandpaulwine.
