On a rainy June morning in the Piedmont wine region, Carlo Mondavi and his wife, Italian native Giovanna Bagnasco, walk the steep and slippery vineyards that Carlo calls “our little slice of heaven.”

Spanning nine acres, their south-facing Sorì della Sorba vineyard is planted to Nebbiolo and Dolcetto on clay-limestone soils. At the top of the ridge is the couple’s farmhouse and small brick winery. Across a facing ravine is a dense, bird-filled woodland.