GRAPE ESCAPE
Meet Your Escape Artists
She’s knowledgeable, she’s fun, she’s passionate about life, she talks with her hands. Not yet a local. Yep, still quite Italian. And when she’s not leading people on tours to the many wine countries in Europe, she returns to her adopted home to lead them here with us in Oregon. Now on our team just shy of three years, she adds a certain zest to our team that our customers truly enjoy. Bellisimo.
A retired school superintendent with the Department of Defense Schools for 32 years, John served the children of U.S. military personnel in Europe and the Middle East. He also learned about great wine and food. Following his return to Oregon, we met him on one of our tours and were captivated. John has now led over 500 tours to our ever exciting wine country. He and our customers have thoroughly enjoyed each and every one of them.
Susan Chapman
An Oregon native with deep roots in Yamhill County, Susan also has a deep love and concern for the farming community and agricultural lands that surround our wine country. Her varied interests include: stage work; traveling; skydiving; Irish step-dancing (back in the day); reading Shakespeare; literature; the prophets; gardening; feeding friends, family and her grandkids. Customers rave about her and enjoy the way she connects the dots for them.
We kind of think we‘re charmed when it comes to finding talent to lead our tours. Rather than thinking of them as drivers or guides, we describe them as ‘escape artists’ in that they use all their talents to provide a great day for our customers.
Larry Landauer
While visiting one of our favorite wineries, we couldn’t help but notice the talented Mr. Landauer behind the counter, who ably hosted our group. A retired nursery owner, we were pleased when Larry came on board recently. “Aside from being handsome, intelligent, suave and debonair, he is just a really sweet guy that is fun to spend the day with.” - That according to him… as well as our customers.
Ralph Stinton
Growing up on the Central Coast of California, Ralph developed an appreciation for agriculture and an admiration for the growing wine region in those parts. Following a career in advertising, Ralph discovered The Oregon Wine Region and soon thereafter, launched Grape Escape. Now mostly stuck in the office, on occasion, he gets a chance to lead a tour. He finds it "A great way to spend time with customers and invigorate my soul in our countryside".
Chanda Bosanac
We were enchanted when Chanda replied to our website request for a new escape artist. Not only did her diverse background in international tourism pique our interest, we loved the fun, yet professional way she communicated back to us. With interests ranging from entertainment and cooking, to tennis and Latin dance, we get a sense you'll have an entertaining time on one of her tours.
Michele Becker
A certified tour director from the International Tour Management Institute, Michele also comes to us with a degree in French and Education. While studying in Dijon, France, she spent a good part of her spare time enjoying Burgundy's wine country. Now an Oregon resident, she's got the perfect background and disposition to share our wine country with you.
