“Limito” combines “land art” and viticulture to become the largest vineyard-labyrinth in the world

The labyrinth has always been the symbol of man’s intricate journey through life, having a more or less religious value. In the Renaissance it became a must have ornament and an amusing pastime in the gardens and palaces of the noble and wealthy families. And now, it will become a work of “land art” in the vineyards of Lazio. The “Limito” project, announced as “the largest vineyard-labyrinth in the world”, will be presented on June 6th in Marco Carpineti’s Tenuta Antoniana, in the municipalities of Bassiano, Sezze and Sermoneta. The setting is a natural paradise, made up of forests, lakes and, on the plateau, the company’s Bellone, Abbuoto and Nero Buono vineyards. A three-hectare portion of the vineyard “has been completely redesigned in the heart of this unique natural setting to give life to a true work of design, “Limito”. It is an evocative labyrinth that reinterprets the vineyard in an unprecedented key, and narrates the Carpineti family’s intentions to provide an inclusive vineyard as a metaphor for life as well as representing beauty, art and creativity”.
The land art work is an elaborate design hosting two spirals and a labyrinth, surrounded by a swirl of waves, which seem to embrace those who walk through the interior of the vineyard. The idea originated from the desire to create a vineyard that is inclusive and welcoming, hosting rather than creating barriers. “Generally, a row in a vineyard is made up of point A and point B, and there is no way to cross even if you want to. This has always given me a sense of lack of welcoming. I think that a vineyard should be a hospitable place that everyone can go through and experience as they wish”, Paolo Carpineti said.
The labyrinth, the company explained, is a metaphor of the life journey that each of us takes, trying to find the way to achieve our dreams, our vision and realization. There are moments of obstacles and interruptions, i.e., situations in which you have to change your direction to finally take the right one. Basically, the vineyard-labyrinth becomes an allegory for existence, reappropriating all of its ancient symbolism in this wine version. Getting lost to find ourselves, reflecting and rediscovering ourselves is a bit like wine does through a glass, bringing out sincerity, and the sensitivity to understand ourselves but also the capacity and conviviality to welcome others, a feeling that is more necessary than ever today.
“Limito” was designed and created by the Landscape Architecture Studio Fernando Bernardi. It is 80 meters in diameter, 4 entrances and 2 different exits. Two resting spaces are located on each side, surrounded by 8 cypresses, which stand out like columns and are “reference points” when crossing it. “The physical realization of the entire project was a slow and precise process, of research and many surveys, supported by collaborators who took part in the construction of the design, entirely done by hand, plant by plant, centimeter by centimeter. It is no coincidence that the vines planted are primarily Bellone and Nero Buono, as these varieties had been rediscovered by the company when they were practically forgotten. A real challenge and a precise project, valorizing these grapes through an organic approach, putting them into different typologies, based on the microclimate and soil of each Estate and even in the now consolidated and appreciated Classic Method version, aiming to obtain true and own crus to express the terroir in a unique way. In addition to the two varieties, another very ancient grape: Abbuoto”. The vine produced the wine the ancient Romans drank, which was in fact part of the Cecubo wine blend, praised by Horace and Pliny. The three varieties were chosen to represent the ancient grapes of those places in the labyrinth, and further strengthen the concept of territory.
“We want to make our Estates, which were created and designed to produce grapes, into open-air museums, transforming what is productive into something artistic. We want to go back to talking about beauty, creativity, ingenuity and distinctiveness; that is, what has made Italy, for centuries, a land of beauty and a basin of a unique ability to “produce" in the world”, the Carpineti family explained.