For Steve Conca, making wine was always an essential part of life - a family ritual marking the passing of seasons. Childhood memories of visits to his grandmother Julietta’s house recall a basement full of winemaking equipment and barrels of traditional Italian-style red wines crafted by his Grandfather Matteo and his Uncle Eddie. Each fall, friends and neighbors would gather at the Conca home to help crush grapes and share the family’s evening meal with lots of wine tasting and merriment.  When Steve's father, Romeo, retired in 1981 he took his winemaking prowess to the next level and founded Lost Mountain as a commercial winery. Steve was enlisted to build a new home for Romeo on family acreage in the foothills near Sequim, Wash. The home was built from timber from the family’s land and included an underground basement for wine production, barrels and a small tasting counter.

Steve and his wife Sue, were always involved with wine production including assisting with crush, fermentation, and bottling,  and they did much of the grape sourcing and field crushing in both the Napa and Dry Creek areas of California before the Washington vineyard were in full production, and later in the vineyards of Eastern Washington as they developed.

After Romeo’s passing in 1997 Steve and Sue took over winery operations full time as co-owners and co-winemakers sharing most duties as a team. Since that time the couple has augmented their practical experience by attending multiple intense, week long seminars in red wine production, wine stability and wine chemistry at U.C. Davis, as well as enology courses through Washington State University Extension and Central Washington University. Their winemaking skills have garnered them many gold and silver medals in West Coast competitions and in 2007 Sue was awarded two silver medals at the Women's Winemaker Challenge in San Francisco for her RainForest Red blend and Cabernet Franc.

As early pioneers in Washington winemaking, Steve and Sue have always encouraged and assisted new wineries whenever possible as the industry has grown. In 1999 Sue & Steve were instrumental in encouraging the local wineries in their area to form an association to pool their resources to create a regional wine touring brochure and create some regional events to raise awareness of wine touring on the Olympic Peninsula and adjacent islands. Sue was President of North Sound Wineries Association from 1999 to 2004, and continues to be a very active in the group as an Executive Board member. She has also served for three years on the Board of Directors of the North Olympic Visitor and Convention Bureau.