DiStefano Winery & Kitchen

For winemaker Mark Newton, the importance of food and wine together goes back a long way. His family always had wine on the table and, while not collectors, appreciated good wine. The love of pairing wine with good food has continued all his life.

Mark received a mechanical engineering degree from UC Santa Barbara. He worked in the nuclear industry for a year before deciding he didn't want to "light up" the rest of his life. Moving to K2 Skis, he learned product development. His interest in wine continued and he attended tastings and networked. In the late 70s, he began teaching a wine appreciation class. "At first I taught one class and hoped we'd have enough people. Three quarters later, I was teaching three classes and 60 students a week. I loved it—it was funding my drinking! Many of the attendees were chefs and wine stewards," recalls Mark.

In 1983, Mark and his dad went to visit Domaine Chandon winery and listen to a French Caberet singer. "It was that night I decided to make sparkling wine. Whether it was the wine itself or the music, I don't know," laughs Mark. He went to the first symposium on sparkling wine at UC Davis, met winemakers and started researching. "I realized that no one in California really knew how to make sparkling wine. I started looking for grapes and ended up in Oregon where the fruit matured the right way, with a 19.5% sugar level. My first wine was a disaster. The books were wrong—acid levels were too high. I put together a lab and base-lined French Champagne to figure out what I had to do. In 1984, my second batch was very good. In 1984-85, it was considered some of the best in the country."

Mark's brother Jeff was the grape grower. Their wine was under the label of Newton & Newton. In Robert Parker's latest book, he says there are two people truly making a difference in growing grapes in California and one is Jeff Newton. Jeff now grows 3500 acres of grapes. His company, Coastal Vineyard Care, grows in the Santa Maria, Santa Rita and Santa Ynez areas of California for a variety of winemakers. Jeff, an economist by training, wanted to farm from the beginning. "We were a middle class family from Orange County. None of us know why he wanted to be a farmer," laughs Mark.

One of Mark's favorite memories from the 80s was being part of the Ray's Retrospective event. It started off with a blind tasting of sparkling wines. Judges were saying "Ah, this one has to be French" but it was Mark's wine.

In 1986, Mark planned to travel to France and study at the University of Dijon. Before going, he went to work for Maison Duetz in California to learn and gain more experience about their sparkling wines. He met French winemaker Christian Rougent and by the end of their time together, they decided Mark knew enough about making sparkling wine and didn't need to go to France. Instead, he went back to Seattle where he made sparkling wine until 1990. "As much as I love making bubbly, it is an expensive wine to make and package," he explains. "Taxes are higher also." In 1990, he made the Sauvignon Blanc that DiStefano (his wife's family name) still makes today for cash flow. In 1991, he began making reds and just fell in love.

DiStefano Winery has always incorporated a food aspect. "We began hosting dinners 10 years ago with Lowell-Hunt Catering." One of the first events was a six-year vertical tasting of our Cabernet Sauvignon with food from Lowell-Hunt. They simply moved the barrels around in the tasting room, bought a teak table and lit a lot of candles. A slab of granite placed on barrels became the tasting bar. "And it's still there," smiles Mark. "We cooked in the parking lot over mesquite grills. It was fabulous!"

George Stevenson started cooking for DiStefano while working for Lowell-Hunt from 1999-2004. He moved to Willows Lodge and continued as a DiStefano caterer. "He's cooked with us for 11 years now," says Mark. "Bobby Moore from Barking Frog does some of our events as well, as has Tom Black. We do monthly events like a pig roast, a cigar dinner and Kobe sliders. We use sterling silver and linens for our dinners. We sponsored a dinner with Quillisascut Farm at FareStart and we've done cheese events with Salumi and Mt. Townsend. Our food is some of the best in the city." Cooking is done in front of guests. "We want guests to interact with chefs—it's like eating in the kitchen." Mark and his wife Donna donate frequently to groups as diverse as Engineers without Borders, Fred Hutchinson and the American Cancer Society.

Photo above: Chef Bobby Moore at DiStefano pig roast

"The one thing I've always said about DiStefano is that their wines are ‘food driven.' They bear out Mark's philosophy of balance," says Chef George Stevenson. "Wines with no acid are very poor food wines. My chef friends tend to love them for this. As a cook they are very easy to work with. Pairing food and wine is pretty easy when the wines are well made and balanced. And Mark and Donna have always been the best people to work with. Events there are more fun than any I've ever been a part of."

The food connection continues to grow as they contemplate creating an artisan food club. "It would work like a wine club, except that people would get quarterly shipments containing olive oil, vegetables, bacon. We'd work with sustainable farmers. It's an idea we're playing with," says Mark.

Since 1983 when they were the 38^th winery in the state, they've had great success. Awards have come from Wine Spectator, Decanter, Food & Wine, Wine Enthusiast and many more. At 6000-7000 cases a year, they are considered a boutique winery. "Chefs say our wines are food friendly, elegant and well balanced. We don't make wines for Robert Parker, we make them for people to enjoy with friends and food." Ken O'Hara of their distributor A&B Imports says "Restaurants and retailers see them as a benchmark Washington winery. When someone asks what is the Washington-style of making wine, people look to DiStefano. They were one of the first good production wineries in Washington."

True enjoyment of great food, wine and friends is something we can all appreciate.

Connie Adams/June 2010