Marco Island(February 10, 2006) - Naples, Fla., Feb. 10, 2006 - Aubrey Ferrao, president and CEO of the Gulf Bay. Group of Companies, is pleased to announce the appointment of Charlie Arturaola as director of wine for Gulf Bay Hospitality, responsible for expanding and overseeing all aspects of the wine collections and wine events at the Marco Beach Ocean Resort and The Club & Spa at Fiddler's Creek.
Most recently, Arturaola was wine director at the Boca Raton Resort & Club, responsible for wine programs at its five hotels and two country clubs with a total of 19 outlets. From 1994 to 2000, Arturaola was sommelier at Il Tulipano Ristorante in Miami, where he was responsible for achieving the restaurant's many wine awards. He also worked as assistant manager of Rigoletto Ristorante in Miami from 1991-1994. Arturaola began his career as maitre d' for Chandris Fantasy Cruises, before joining the Cunard Cruise Line as head wine steward based in South Hampton, England.
Arturaola, a founding sommelier for the Naples Winter Wine Festival, has been a featured sommelier at prestigious international events, including the James Beard 100th anniversary gala and the Aspen Food & Wine Classic. He also is well-known for his work as sommelier and board member for Toast to Humanity, and as a member of the Society of Wine Education and the Sommelier Association of South Florida.
Charlie Arturaola also is known for his expertise in creating memorable wine dinners and events for top producers and has been responsible for achieving numerous awards from Wine Spectator magazine. He was recently honored as a Chevalier by France's distinguished Ordre des Coteaux de Champagne.
His 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 schools in California, France and Florida, including 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.
Charlie Arturaolais a native of Spain's Basque Country and currently resides in Marco Island.

Gulf Bay. Group of Companies currently is the largest privately owned development company in Florida, with headquarters in Naples, Florida. It is a multi-faceted real estate development company with capabilities that include planning, development, real estate construction, sales, mortgage brokerage, hospitality management and operations. Gulf Bay has vast experience in successfully master planning large multi-faceted, highly "amenitised" communities.
Far more than a "developer" in the traditional sense, Gulf Bay is vertically integrated and performs these ancillary functions for its own account in order to maximize the value of its holdings. Gulf Bay is the developer of Fiddler's Creek, a nearly 4,000-acre residential community offering a fitness center, spa, tennis, dining and championship golf to its residents. Gulf Bay also developed the Marco Beach Ocean Resort, a 100 one- and two-bedroom suite hotel located on the Marco Island beach.
Gulf Bay's completed and envisioned build-out value of luxury residential properties is in excess of $7 billion.

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