Bitter Wine: Have Gun, Will Travel (June 14, 1959)

“Bitter Wine” is an episode of Have Gun, Will Travel, the old-time radio show, first broadcast June 14, 1959. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Paladin is summoned to the Donatello vineyard, where the owner's prize wines are being ruined by oil seeping from a neighboring well operated by the stubborn Timothy Jerome Gorman. When Paladin attempts to broker peace by suggesting simple technical fixes, Gorman refuses to cooperate, claiming he has no money and no sympathy for the Italian vintner. Paladin leaves to investigate further, but returns to find the dispute escalating into open conflict.

California wine country, 1875. The Donatello vineyard and Gorman's oil well operation nearby.

Characters: Paladin, Senor Donatello, Teresa Donatello, Timothy Jerome Gorman

Listen for: A clash between old-world viticulture and new industrial enterprise, with Paladin caught between a passionate vintner and a ruthless oil prospector who refuses compromise.

Written from the episode itself; it never gives away the ending. Every recording is remastered for the stream: cleaned of rumble, hiss and mains hum (and the old TV whine where we found it), then levelled in two passes to steady broadcast loudness, so one show is never quieter than the next.