Joining forces with the Saratoga Automobile Museum and the Italian Trade Commission, SPAC lent a distinct theme to the Wine & Food and Fall Ferrari Festival by combining flavorful cuisine with fast cars.
SPAC officials said that attendance figures and the money raised from the event are not yet available, but the initial reaction is that the crowd was sizable and good spirited.
“It was a great year for everyone,” said SPAC President and executive Director Marcia White, who went on to praise the event’s Italian theme. “This weekend was really all about the great love people have for three things: great food, great wine and great cars,” she said.
The weekend, which ran from Thursday evening through Saturday, Sept. 12, was kicked off with fine wine dinners held at restaurants across the area, and culminated with a grand tasting and Ferrari auto show on SPAC’s grounds at the Saratoga Spa State Park.
The event featured Italian cheeses, dishes and 200 Italian wines in addition to a collection of about 50 Ferraris assembled through the nearby Saratoga Automobile Museum. The museum also sponsored a panel discussion with North American Racing Team veterans.
“I think it’s one of the first times of assembling that whole group together,” said Saratoga Auto Museum Chairman of the Board Bob Bailey. “We have assembled some of the greatest and most valuable Ferraris in the world.”
On Friday, many of those Ferraris embarked on a 90-minute drive to Lake George, where participants lunched at the historic Lake George Club and took Comitti Italian Mahogany Motorboat rides. Later that night, an exclusive Serata Italiana gala was held in the Hall of Springs.
While the exotic cars delighted the eye, the real driving force behind the event was the spread of Italian foods and wines that excited the palette. SPAC’s partnership with the Italian Trade Commission is timely, said organizers, because the country’s wine imports to the U.S. recently surpassed France’s, also cementing Italy as the world’s dominant wine producer.
Italian Trade Commission Executive Director for the U.S. Aniello Musella said he is pleased to see that Americans appreciate quality to the same extent his countrymen do.
“We are so pleased the American consumer appreciates this and have made the effort to incorporate Italian products in their everyday lives,” he said.
A silent auction comprised of luxury items, including a weeklong trip for four to the Palazzo Santi Terzi in Umbra, Italy, took place on Saturday.
Altogether, the weekend was an unqualified success in SPAC’s endeavor to offer a unifying theme to the weekend, said White.
“It did give us an enhanced experience, which is what SPAC is all about,” she said. “We’ll see where we can go from here.”
Proceeds from the event will go to benefit educational programming at SPAC and the Saratoga Automobile Museum.
