About Us

Shannon was born with a bad case of wanderlust. She grew up in a beautiful coastal region of California, and started cooking and drinking wine at a young age. Working in the wine business for over two decades, owning a catering company, and being a co-owner of a restaurant are just a few of the wine and food experiences she brings to the table. Shannon is the co-author, with Ruth Edenbaum, of Chow Venice, A Guide to Eating and Drinking in La Serenissma. She adores Europe; the food, the culture, the people, and most definitely the wine. When not in Europe, Shannon spends her time in and around Santa Barbara, California, where she enjoys a daily glass or three of local Pinot Noir.

Equal parts home-body and traveler, Kim enjoys exploring new areas of the world as well as old favorites. By the time she graduated college, she’d visited several foreign countries and much of the United States. Then life settled in and with it, a husband and two children but Kim couldn't stay home for long, and in recent years has spent time in Italy, England, France and Israel, not to mention many States. When Kim’s not traveling, you can find her indulging some of her other passions, cooking, wine and beer. Kim is a self-taught gourmet cook, an avid fan of wine having visited dozens of wineries, talking to the winemakers, touring the facilities and tasting the product. And lest, her other love, beer, gets jealous, Kim has also been seen in many a brewery. So, when the opportunity came along to form GrapeHops, merging every single one of her loves (well, except that for her husband and kids), she jumped at the chance.

Kim and Shannon met many years ago as participants on the travel forums Slow Travel Talk (aka SlowTrav.com). Since then, they’ve traveled together in California, France, Spain and Italy and are both eagerly looking forward to their travels with you.