Will the lighthearted podcast save wine? Probably not. But there will be giggles.
April 14, 2026 (Napa, CA) — The popular podcast “Bottle Talk with Rick & Paul” returns from hiatus at a time when the wine world is struggling and looking to the horizon for a hero. “Bottle Talk” will not be that hero. Not even close. But it will provide a few more laughs. We need those, too.
“Bottle Talk” comes from award-winning writers Rick Kushman and Paul Wagner. In it, they answer questions from listeners, talk about wine stuff they love and wage war against wine snobs and incomprehensible wine descriptions.
“Too many industry-cloistered writers and snobs scare people away from wine by trying to appear expert and erudite,” Kushman said. “We prefer to scare people with our natural personalities.”
“Which is why we’re surprised to have had such a strong following of listeners,” said Wagner. “We hear from people all around the country and all over the world. You’d think they would have better things to do.”
Kushman and Wagner launched Bottle Talk in 2014 and earned acclaim for their light-hearted, friendly take on wine. They were called by one journalist the funniest wine podcast in America, competition: zero.
“So many wine writers and podcasters are soooo thoughtful and serious. We aren’t constitutionally capable of either of those,” Kushman said. “Wine is a thing of simple pleasure and great joy, and we believe we broke new ground in talking about wine by using a language we call Normal English.”
“Not that anyone has ever called us normal,” Wagner says. “Some California wineries turned on the show in the cellar for their employees – we hope that’s a compliment to us and not punishment for their crew.”
Kushman is the author of two books, including 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, was a longtime columnist for “The Sacramento Bee,” and is the wine commentator for Capital Public Radio, Sacramento’s NPR station.
Wagner teaches wine classes at Napa Valley College and around the world. 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 has won a number of wine industry awards over the years.
“Bottle Talk” has been off the podcast air since 2020, and neither Wagner nor Kushman can offer a good explanation why it took so long to return. “We can promise,” Kushman said, “that neither of us were jailed or even indicted for anything, although there were a few parking tickets.”
The segment they are both most eager to resume is “Truly Horrible Wine Writing,” which most often involves wine descriptions. “The really horrible stuff reads like someone owns the Dictionary of Gibberish,” Kushman said. “Some of the writing is so unfathomable, it could be written in Klingon.”
Wagner and Kushman said there’s lots of writing to cheers for, too. “There are many, many smart, talented, well-intentioned wine people out there,” Wagner said.
“But we want to thank the other ones,” Kushman said. “They make it so easy to do our show.”
“Bottle Talk with Rick and Paul” is recorded at Napa Valley College and drops a new episode every Wednesday. It can be found on Apple and Spotify podcast lineups and at http://www.rickandpaulwine.com/. Information about sponsorship and links to ask questions can be found on the website.
