Grappolo Blu

Charlie Arturaola

Wine Educator

            The distinguished sommelier Charlie Arturaola is a household name in culinary and oenological circles, and considered one of the nation's top 10 palates's by American Sommelier Association. The charismatic wine expert approaches his life's passion with knowledge and enthusiasm, and is in demand at food and wine events nationwide.

                        He has been a featured sommelier and educator at many of the country's greatest wine festivals, including Aspen, Naples (as a founding sommelier), Napa, and Jackson Hole, and is on the tasting team for the Wine Spectator's Wine Experiences, most recently in San Francisco, New York and Chicago.  In 2005 Arturaola was name as Chevalier by France's Ordre des Coteaux des Champagnes.

                        As an educator, Arturaola was a distinguished visiting sommelier at Johnson & Wales University, and, in 2007, will teach at Lynn's University new Hospitality department in Boca Raton.  He has also served as an expert speaker for Bloomingdale's and Waterford, Master of Food & Wine in Mendoza, Argentina and as a guest columnist for USA Today.

                         Arturaola is presently the president of Miami-based Grappolo Blu, which offers sommelier services, wine estate appraisals, and cellar salvages.  His global knowledge of wine is so comprehensive that several insurance companies rely on him to appraise wine collections valued from $50,000 to more than one million dollars.  His experience with wine embraces 20 years as cellar master, director of wine, sommelier and wine purchaser for hotels, resorts, restaurants, and luxury cruise lines.  He has traveled to every wine region in the world, cultivating productive relationships with winemakers and is fluent in five languages: English, French, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish.

                        Before to founding Grappolo Blu, Arturaola served as wine director for two of South Florida's top resorts, the legendary Boca Raton Resort & Club, in Boca Raton, and the luxury boutique Marco Beach Ocean Resort on Marco Island.  Prior to his resort affiliations, he spent ten years as sommelier at Tulipano Ristorante and as manager of Rigoletto Ristorante, both in Miami.  Prior to that, he was head wine steward for Cunard Lines, based in South Hampton, England.                 Arturaola's extensive education includes a degree in journalism and broadcasting from the Press Institute in Montevideo, Uruguay, and studies in European history at the University of Navarra in Spain.  He focused on his wine and hospitality education with studies at the School of Service and Hospitality at Sterling Winery in Menlo Park, Calif., the Court of Master Sommeliers in Orlando, Fla., and the Allied Domecq School of Hospitality and Wine Service

             Arturaola belongs to The Board of Education of the Society of Wine Educators, based in Washington DC; Toast to Humanity as Board of Directors, and member of the American Society of Appraisers.

                        Contact Charlie Arturaola at Grappolo Blu, 11 Island Avenue, #712, Miami Beach, FL 33139; phone 305-531-8293; email wine8140@aol.com, or email us at theitaliangourmetshop@yahoo.com.