It is called Limito and is just a stone’s throw from Rome. With its extension of no less than three hectares, it is the most extensive vineyard labyrinth in the world. Limito is a land art project that opened on June 6, 2024, within Marco Carpineti’s Tenuta Antoniana, between Bassiano, Sezze and Sermoneta (RM) municipalities. The idea of a vineyard whose shape is radically different from the classic row of vines, in favour of a sinuous and enveloping structure like that of a labyrinth, comes from Paolo Carpineti, son of founder Marco, born in 1987 and raised in the family business. The concept behind the project is to welcome visitors with an immersive experience, challenging them to get lost and find themselves in nature. A game that recalls the ancient pastimes of Renaissance aristocrats but is also a metaphor for life, in which you never stop looking for your way, even turning back when the direction is wrong. To make the place even more unique and evocative, a giant swing was made available to visitors to mark the beginning of the path: an oval that recalls the company logo, seven meters high and five meters wide, with the evocative name Otium. Alessandro Pistilli signed the work.
The Limito project was developed by the Fernando Bernardi Landscape Architecture Studio and is the result of plenty of studies and surveys; suffice it to say that the design was made entirely by hand. “We want to transform our estates, born and designed to produce grapes, into open-air museums. Turn what is productive into something artistic. Go back to talking about beauty, creativity, ingenuity and distinctiveness. What has made Italy for centuries a land of beauty and the reservoir for unique abilities to do things,” explains Paolo Carpineti in an interview with Wine News.
Marco Carpineti: an organic success story
It is certainly worth learning more about Marco Carpineti’s entrepreneurial project. He began his business in 1986 from a small country house with a bower located along the Via Francigena in the mountains of Cori, south of Rome. Gradually, the small house was joined by a series of estates: from Tenuta Capolemole near Cori to Tenuta San Pietro midway between the nature parks of Torretta Vecchia and Ninfa; from Tenuta Pezze di Ninfa in Norma to Tenuta Antoniana in Sermoneta.
The company has always been focused on organic farming and respect for natural resources. “Organic has convinced everyone of its goodness; it should be enforced by law. We cannot eat or drink poison,” says Marco Carpineti in an interview with Slowine Fair. He continues, “We look for naturalness everywhere. In the vineyard, in-depth knowledge of the plants leads us to practice respectful agriculture. In the winery, in-depth knowledge of the raw material, the grapes, leads us to filter very little, to use spontaneous fermentations, and to wait longer to get the product we have in mind.”
Ancient grape varieties, modern wines
The deep connection with the land is another aspect of Carpineti’s attention to naturalness. The winery has always cultivated only native vines, such as Abbuoto, Bellone, Greco Nero, and Nero Buono. The Abbuoto vine, in particular, is very ancient, as you can imagine if you think Horace was already talking about it in his poems. However, this is not a nostalgia-driven operation of pure recovery: these vines, in fact, have shown that they can give life to innovative products such as Kius sparkling wine, strongly desired by Paolo Carpineti. It is an organic, traditional method wine from the ancient Bellone and Nero Buono grapes grown on the San Pietro estate. It is joined by Nzù Nero Buono, a biodynamic wine that ages in clay amphorae selected from the hillside of Cori, and finally, Dithyrambus, Marco Carpineti’s first reserve red wine that comes from the heights of Colle Paolino on the Capolemole estate.
Carpineti Terrae and looking to the future
Sustainable agriculture, then, which stems from an in-depth knowledge of the land and its grapes and a study of the past that is also a glimpse into the future. Today, Carpineti is a project called Carpineti Terrae, an experience open to all through a series of on-farm experiences aimed at deepening the wine and organic farming culture. “I do my work well so that others can enjoy it as well. Today, my children, about 40 employees, and outside workers work for the company. It fills my heart to think that corporate welfare is shared by everyone who works here and also by the end consumer ” concludes Marco Carpineti.
Congratulations to those who bring Made in Italy organic wine to the world!
Read about other outstanding companies from Lazio.