Connect & Create

Fire Recovery Efforts in CA Wine Country: Come, Buy and Spread the Word

Nov 17th, 2017 Jayne Pearce Connect & Create, Consume & Educate

At the annual Wine Bloggers Conference, this year held in Santa Rosa from November 9-12, the main topic of major concern were the recent North Bay wildfires most notably in Mendocino, Napa and Sonoma County. The city of Santa Rosa in Sonoma County experienced the Tubb’s fire at its northern edge as it swept through the residential areas of Coffey Park and Fountaingrove, causing devastation and loss of life. In Napa County and Sonoma County, the Nun’s fire ravaged the countryside and further casualties, as well as the separate Atlas fire in Napa and the Redwood Valley in Mendocino. It has been only six weeks since the first fire started late on Sunday, October 8, and continued for three weeks as firefighters focused initially on evacuation before being fully contained. Wine Country residents are gradually coming to terms with the catastrophe that consumed them but are determined to move forward and save their national treasure.

Getting fresh with Rías Baixas at Wine Bloggers Conference

Nov 12th, 2017 Jayne Pearce Connect & Create, Consume & Educate

With Spanish wine, my mind generally leaps to full bodied reds that reflect the heat and terroir of this complex region. At the 2017 Wine Bloggers Conference in Santa Rosa, one of the wine discovery sessions showcased a relatively new DO that tested my tastebuds and assumptions. Far to the west within this great country, Rías Baixas in Galicia sits north of Portugal, soaking up the cool moistness of the Atlantic on its rugged, granite base. The name Rías Baixas is Galician for “Lower Rias” and refers to the five main rivers, whose water carve out the mineral-rich alluvial topsoil before mixing fresh with saline.

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Stats, Facts & Maps on Santa Barbara Wine Country

Sep 5th, 2014 Jayne Pearce Connect & Create, Consume & Educate

I admit that the Santa Barbara Wine Country near the Californian coast was always a bit of a mystery to me. It took a 5 hour car journey from the San Francisco Bay Area and a conveniently located Wine Bloggers Conference in Buellton for me to really appreciate this enigmatic gem of a wine destination. Santa Barbara Wine Country sits between San Francisco and Los Angeles and about forty miles NW of the coastal city of Santa Barbara. The coastal mountains unusually transverse East to West instead of the the typical North to South coastal ridge seen elsewhere along this Western stretch of California. This geology allows the climatic Pacific breeze to penetrate deeper inland and provide a cooler and longer growing season for the perfectly positioned Santa Barbara Wine Country. The resulting style for both the red and whites is generally a more sophisticated glass of wine. Unsurprisingly, it is the Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grape that seem to enjoy these slightly cooler growing conditions and the marine-calcium rich soils that lend the wine a certain elegance. If I were to take away from the wine conference one recommended Pinot and one Chardonnay it would be the Hilliard Bruce 2010 ‘Sun’ Pinot Noir ($55 approx) and the Alma Rosa 2010 ‘El Jabalí’ Chardonnay ($28), both from the Santa Rita Hills AVA in Santa Barbara Wine Country. I matched the Alma Rosa Chardonnay with a chicken and peach skewer recipe I created a little while back - see the blog post. The Hilliard Bruce Pinot went down so well with another Jambip food creation - my blackberry and basil pork with couscous - I actually forgot to immortalize it via a photo. Fortunately, I have a lasting memory of an evening tour around this unique winery where John Hilliard’s dedication to vineyard quality and SIP certification and Christine Bruce’s passion for perfection are unsurpassed. This talented partnership follows through into an incredible bottle of wine.

Typical Aging French Syrah Wine Tasting Video

Aug 7th, 2014 Jayne Pearce Connect & Create, Consume & Educate

How to taste a typical aging French Syrah. A Quick Sip Video French Syrah Wine Tasting by Jayne Pearce at Jambip with a breakdown of her Show: Sniff: Sip approach to tasting wine.

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Typical Semillon Wine Tasting Video

Aug 6th, 2014 Jayne Pearce Connect & Create, Consume & Educate

How to taste a typical warm climate Semillon. A Quick Sip Video Semillon wine tasting by Jayne Pearce at Jambip with a breakdown of her Show: Sniff: Sip approach to tasting wine.

Typical French Chablis Wine Tasting Video

Apr 9th, 2014 Jayne Pearce Connect & Create, Consume & Educate

How to taste a typical French Chablis. A Quick Sip Video Chablis wine tasting by Jayne Pearce at Jambip with a breakdown of her Show: Sniff: Sip approach to tasting wine.

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Typical French Beaujolais Wine Tasting Video

Apr 9th, 2014 Jayne Pearce Connect & Create, Consume & Educate

View Jayne Pearce’s latest in her Show: Sniff: Sip wine tasting videos. This video post explains what to typically expect in a French Beaujolais wine tasting.

Typical Italian Pinot Grigio Wine Tasting Video

Mar 25th, 2014 Jayne Pearce Connect & Create, Consume & Educate

View Jayne Pearce’s latest in her Show: Sniff: Sip wine tasting videos. This post is about a typical Italian Pinot Grigio.

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Typical Italian Barolo Wine Tasting Video

Mar 25th, 2014 Jayne Pearce Connect & Create, Consume & Educate

View Jayne Pearce’s Show: Sniff: Sip wine tasting videos. This post is about a typical Italian Barolo.

Typical Australian Shiraz Wine Tasting Video

Mar 10th, 2014 Jayne Pearce Connect & Create

View Jayne Pearce’s Show: Sniff: Sip wine tasting videos. This post is about a typical Australian Shiraz wine tasting.

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Typical Red Bordeaux Wine Tasting Video

Mar 2nd, 2014 Jayne Pearce Connect & Create

View Jayne Pearce’s Show: Sniff: Sip wine tasting videos. This post is about a typical red Bordeaux wine tasting.

Typical Burgundy Pinot Noir Wine Tasting Video

Feb 24th, 2014 Jayne Pearce Connect & Create

View Jayne Pearce’s Show: Sniff: Sip wine tasting videos. This post is about a typical Burgundy Pinot Noir wine tasting.

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Typical NZ Sauvignon Blanc Wine Tasting Video

Feb 19th, 2014 Jayne Pearce Connect & Create

View Jayne Pearce’s Show: Sniff: Sip wine tasting videos. This post is about a typical New Zealand - NZ Sauvignon Blanc wine tasting video.

Typical Australian Chardonnay Wine Tasting Video

Feb 11th, 2014 Jayne Pearce Connect & Create

View Jayne Pearce’s Show: Sniff: Sip wine tasting videos. This post is about a typical New World / Australian Chardonnay wine.

Pianissimo Wine label design

Jan 18th, 2014 Jayne Pearce Connect & Create

The plan for this wine label design was to create a soft look to complement the Pianissimo brand. Using Illustrator’s blend and gradient tool with a small amount of texturing, the look was rather velvety to reflect the easy drinking merlot.

Festive Cheer designed to charm

Dec 6th, 2013 Jayne Pearce Connect & Create

My first home-made Christmas card using Illustrator and InDesign was a fun way to start the holiday festivities. Combine this with the long-standing British tradition of feeding the thirsty Christmas cake with rum certainly helped dust down those festive feelings. Click on the pdf link for access: xmas card front design or check out the image below. Happy Holidays to you!

British Gastro Pictures

Nov 29th, 2013 Jayne Pearce Connect & Create

Egg Custards

I can almost smell it!

Monster Munch!

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Carmel Valley 1 Mile Wine Crawl sheet

Nov 29th, 2013 Jayne Pearce Connect & Create

Click on the Carmel Valley info sheet for the most amazing and useful information sheet about a boutique style wine region.

Carmel Valley Maps

Nov 29th, 2013 Jayne Pearce Connect & Create

Wine consumption is an excuse to make maps or maybe it’s the other way around. Whichever, if you fancy a wine crawl along Carmel Valley to explore the nineteen or so wineries then these maps may prove useful. A copy of my one page Carmel Valley Wine Route printable .pdf is also available.

Homely food & Wine Pics

Nov 29th, 2013 Jayne Pearce Connect & Create

Chateau Musar

Chardonnay & Lemons

Mumm Napa

Chewy Choco-Chip Cookies

Santa Steve Xmas Cake

Broccoli Cheese & Chardonnay

Enough for two

Summer Salad