Food and wine are far too dynamic to be limited to the conventional ideas of "red with red and white with white". Learn why classic pairings don’t always work and why new approaches rely more on the individual’s ability to create proper balance through exploration and experimentation with taste and flavor. In this interactive program, we begin with a variety of tasting experiments and exercises to better understand food and wine and process of bringing them together - successfully. Learn how to adjust any dish you are cooking or eating in a restaurant to best match the wine you drinking! Putting our new ideas into practice we will prepare a luscious 5-course tasting menu and highlight great California wines with each course and along the way, tasting, adjusting, tasting, adjusting and eating. This is a great exercise for both novices and experienced wine buffs. Chef Charlie emphasizes basic skill and technique work, along with wellness and lifestyle enrichment topics relating to cooking, nutrition, fitness and special needs. His days are spent teaching at top-notch culinary schools, designing custom wellness programs for corporate clients, health clubs and wellness clinics, facilitating interactive workshops, and is currently working on his first book.