IN BREVE
- Planeta presented a special edition of Chardonnay 2024 at the Lia Rumma Gallery in Milan to celebrate thirty years since the first harvest.
- The project focuses on themes of fire, wine, and communication, in collaboration with artist Claire Fontaine.
- The work ‘On Fire’ uses the flame emoji to represent emotions, passion, and difficult communication.
- The limited sale of the Chardonnay Jeroboam will support an initiative against fires in Sicily and promote a landscape pathway in Selinunte.
- The collaboration between Claire Fontaine and Planeta highlights a connection with Sicily and reflects the company’s commitment to contemporary art and sustainability.
At the Lia Rumma Gallery in Milan, Planeta presented a special edition of its Chardonnay (2024 vintage) to celebrate thirty years since the first harvest. The project stems from a collaboration with Claire Fontaine and revolves around the themes of fire, wine, and communication.
The Milan event was dedicated to presenting the label and the journey that accompanies it, with the presence of Alessio and Vito Planeta and Professor Giuseppe Barbera, member of the Scientific Committee of the Association of Parks and Gardens of Italy. The initiative is part of an international tour that, after its debut at Palazzo Butera in Palermo last November, will visit London, the United Arab Emirates, and Tokyo.
The goal is to present a Sicily rooted in history yet projected into the present, through a dialogue between contemporary art and winemaking. A pairing the company has pursued for thirty years.
THE SPECIAL EDITION “ON FIRE”
To celebrate the thirtieth harvest of Chardonnay, Planeta has produced a special edition inspired by the work On Fire (2023) by Claire Fontaine. The work uses the flame emoji as a symbol with multiple meanings. At its core is the idea that emojis are a kind of “hieroglyphics of the present.” Pictograms to describe situations, facts, sensations, and emotions.
On Fire depicts the flame often used both as a positive comment and as “criticism”. While on one hand it symbolizes enthusiasm and passion, on the other it’s an image that evokes wars and fires fueled by global warming. A symbol of passion and strength, the flame also represents difficulties in communication between people (remember the cover of “Wish You Were Here” by Pink Floyd?).
“The flame is also this – says Alessio Planeta –. On one hand, the desire we have to communicate and interact with other people, on the other the fact that too often we hide behind a screen sending messages and emojis when it would be better to sit down with a glass of wine and talk.”
A LONG AND MAGNIFICENT WALK IN SELINUNTE
The project is also linked to a key passage in the family’s history, with roots in the agricultural landscapes near Selinunte, where the Planeta enterprise was born. There is a direct connection with the creation of the itinerary “A Long and Magnificent Walk” in the rural landscape of the Archaeological Park of Selinunte. The project is curated by Professor Giuseppe Barbera and landscape architect Tiziana Calvo, with consultation from Dr. Manlio Speciale, scientific consultant of Radicepura Horticultural Park.
The initiative will be funded with the proceeds from the sale of a limited edition of Jeroboam of Planeta Chardonnay “On Fire” 2024, born from the collaboration with Claire Fontaine and presented as a symbolic act against the fires that strike Sicily. The project intends to integrate into the archaeological landscape in dialogue with the agricultural one to which the company dedicates its activity.
“With this initiative – adds Alessio Planeta – we would like, beyond simply celebrating a wine like Planeta Chardonnay that has accompanied us over these thirty years, marking our development and representing an important piece in the Renaissance of Sicilian wine, to also highlight our personal way of practicing the profession of farmer with attention to the “contemporary” in the broadest sense of the term, and therefore to the landscape, with the intervention at the Park of Selinunte.”
The pathway begins at the Traveler’s Houses and leads to the monumental complexes and antiquarium of Baglio Florio. It continues toward the mouth of the Modione river, the Demetra Malophoros complex, the Gaggera Houses, up to the rural architecture of Case De Sabato, Case Sinacore, and Case Titone.
The interventions concern green infrastructure. Environments consistent with existing vegetation are planned, with shade and rest areas integrated into the agricultural landscape. The species introduced will be native and drought-resistant. The four areas will be differentiated based on landscape conformation and will include furnishings in simple forms and natural materials.
CLAIRE FONTAINE AND THE CONNECTION WITH SICILY
Claire Fontaine, a collective founded in Paris in 2004, has established a connection with Sicily since 2017. With Planeta, it collaborated on “Journey to Sicily #8” (2018-2019), a nomadic residency in the Etna territory, and on the project “Patriarchy=CO2” (2020), part of Costellazioni d’Arte at Buonivini, Noto. On Fire (2023) was acquired by Planeta and is housed in the Studiolo all’Ulmo, in Sambuca di Sicilia, a place of memory linked to Vito Planeta Sr.
