And she relates this discovery with humor and ease while guiding visitors through the history and halls of Egg Harbor City’s Renault Winery. The professional actress came to the area from New York after being cast to play opposite Donald O’Connor in a 1986 production of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying at the Claridge Casino Hotel. Still a working actress, she’s a frequent cast member at the East Lynne Theater Company in Cape May.

In 2000, she saw an ad for a Renault Winery tour guide and went right over to tell her soon-to-be boss, “You need me.” He knew the tour had been interesting but lifeless. He hired her on the spot. Smart man. The tour is now a must-see stop and a refreshing dip in local history for residents. The information given her about the winery was indeed interesting but for Suzanne, not interesting enough. She wanted more.

“I rummaged through boxes of papers and pictures in the attic and found a record of how people lived 100 years ago,” said Dawson. It turned out some of those people in this ever-unfolding story were no ordinary Joes but extraordinary mobsters, bootleggers, racketeers and the infamous Al Capone.

With a delivery that’s a cross between the flamboyance of Mame and the bawdiness of Bette Midler, the tour is a one-woman roving stand-up, filled with everything a good story needs: mystery, intrigue, love, lust, crime, comedy, tragedy and yes, booze.

The tour begins in the antique glass room. Magnificent pieces, some from the 13th century, ring the room. Suzanne draws the tour group’s attention to the stemware that was used to toast the opening of the Eiffel Tower in 1898. Dawson quips, “Aren’t you glad they didn’t toss these into the fireplace after the toast?” Over the laughter, she begins to tell the fascinating story of the Renault Winery, founded in 1849 by Louis Renault.

Renault was born in the Champagne region of France and left his winery after the phylloxera infestation in the late 1800’s that wiped out two-thirds of France’s wine industry. Dawson points out that for the United States, “This worked out really, really well.” Renault landed in South Jersey during the Civil War and found fertile soil that had been producing grapes since the 1790s.

As the group moves out of the glass room she begins to reveal her archeological finds and the story comes to life. She points out a bill of sale for a surrey Renault bought in 1908 for $50 cash and $35 dollars in wine. Her excavation of the winery’s cache unearthed photos that chronicled the life of thewinery during prohibition, the really juicy part. And no one tells the tale like Dawson: “After Louis died at 92, his sons inherited the family business but they ran smack dab into prohibition. Oh, what a time. I’m certainly glad I wasn’t here for that. But they found a buyer— John D’Augustino.

Johnny was born and brought up in Atlantic City. He bought the winery in 1923. He wasn’t 28 years old yet. And there’s no way to put this delicately... Johnny had connections. Every which way you want to look he had connections. Some of his pals ran South Jersey, specifically Enock “Nucky” Johnson, leader of the Republican political organization that controlled Atlantic City. So when

Johnny bought this winery early in prohibition, his good pals with clout acquired for our Johnny a special permit to keep this winery open during prohibition, for the purpose ofmaking sacramental wine for churches. Somebody had to do it and he was a good Catholic boy. We could stay open and make sacramental wine, cooking wine, grape juice and amazing brandied peaches.

Our boy Johnny cleared amillion dollars a year in the 1920s on wine tonics. And this was Johnny’s legitimate business. His illegitimate business was bootlegging and hijacking. He allowed his pal Al Capone to hide out here. The only difference in whether he was hiding out or a guest was his wardrobe. Hiding out he wore the clothes of a field hand. As a guest, he dressed in costly handmade suits and shoes. Johnny was killed in a legitimate car crash in 1948.” The tour continues. She tells how wine is made and adds to the Johnny story. More about Al Capone, Johnson and the rest of the “bad boys” and the parts they played in the oldest winery in New Jersey. For instance, how after Johnson’s release from prison in 1945, the 62 year-old and his 37 year-old wife Florence “Floss” Osbeck, became part of Renault’s sales team.

Dawsonshowspicturesof the richand famous wining and dining and tells how the winery ended up in the hands of current owners Joe Milza and his family, who bought the winery in 1997. Joe, a former newspaperman didn’t know a thing about making wine but has transformed the vineyard from a failing business to a thriving resort with awardwinning wine.

This tall redhead with a melodic yet gravelly voice is not content with what she’s thus far discovered about the winery’s highly entertaining history. She continues to rummage through those golden boxes and makes trips to the Atlantic City library’s archives to dig deeper. During a recent visit to the home of Atlantic City historian, Boo Pergament, she discovered thatduringProhibition, D’Augustino purchased a home forCapone that still stands atAnnapolis and Atlantic Avenues in Atlantic City. With the evolving story line, the tour given today will be different than the one tomorrow, but the information will never be as amusing or enjoyable as it is when told by Dawson. For three dollars that includes a wine tasting, it’s incredibly entertaining and one of the biggest bargains in town