Following the road that rises gently from Asti into the Casale countryside, the Monferrato hills are softer than elsewhere, with a landscape in which vineyards, woodland and orchards alternate. On the hills that slope down towards the valley, vines and fruit trees open up to green meadows and fields, clearly marked by orderly rows of poplars and willows. At Cioccaro di Penango a large farmhouse stands out, above the trees, at the top of a hill, surrounded by vineyards. This is La Fiammenga, an agricultural enterprise that Vittorio Radicioni, an industrial entrepreneur from Turin, bought a few years ago to realize a longstanding dream.
It is an eighteenth century building, on the south facing side of the hill. All around it the vineyards form a spectacular amphitheatre - perhaps the same landscape that struck the mysterious flamand who gave the name to the property.The old vaulted cellar, with its red brick walls and worn paving stones, bears witness to an age-old viticultural vocation. To fulfil this vocation, the outhouses originally built for other rural activities, such as the cowsheds and haybarns, have been sensitively reconstructed and converted into areas appropriate to vinify, bottle and produce the wines. The decision to produce quality wines has led to a major renewal of the vineyards, rationalizing the old ones and searching for carefully selected grape varieties for the new ones. At the same time, the equipment to produce the wines has been systematically replaced, through every stage of the production process, replacing the wooden casks and ensuring appropriate conditions for the ageing of bottled wines.

Today La Fiamminga, completely restructured, includes more than 30 hectares (70 acres) of land, most of which are laid to vineyards. Alongside the range of classic grape varieties - Monferrato, Barbera, Grignolino and Freisa -other highly prized varieties have gradually been added - Chardonnay, Pinot Nero, Cabernet, Sauvignon and Merlot.
Production began in 2001, with Grignolino d'Asti and Barbera d'Asti; since then new wines have been added each year. All the wines are produced exclusively from grapes grown on the vineyards of the estate, where the clusters are picked by hand and carefully selected to guarantee a product of maximum quality.