“There is something about this pig I simply cannot put it into words,” says Todd, who’s written a funny and heart-warming book about their journey from Sydney’s inner west to the good life in the Hunter Valley.

“Her eyes win everybody over and everybody who looks into them feels this quite strong connection and it's very powerful.”

As a piglet, Helga moved into a villa the men were renovating, sleeping in a spare bathtub, eating her meals off the floor at their feet.

“She would sleep on my chest while I was watching television, she would come up for cuddles while I was on the couch, eventually she was toilet trained and would come to me like a dog.”

The bond wasn’t anything like the city slickers expected, but then nothing about this adventure was.

It was 2010, Todd and Jeff were holidaying in the Barossa with their good friends Mel and Jesus. Todd had always been a fan of Maggie Beer and they were whiling away the afternoon at her farm in Nuriootpa. Over delicious food, a glass of wine, it struck Todd that he could live like this.

“I think I would like to be Maggie Beer,” he writes in Thirty-Thousand Bottles of Wine and a Pig Called Helga.

But at night they returned to a “villa” - “but there was no disguising the fact we were sleeping in a garage converted into two bedrooms” - with filthy carpets and net curtains, “generous breakfast provisions” consisted of those little cereal boxes.

The first morning Jeff woke up and said “I reckon we could do a better job than this.”

The seed was planted. The pair returned to Sydney and the corporate life, a major renovation on their home was keeping them busy but there was something missing.

“It wasn't until we got back to Sydney and launched into our massive renovation, I got promoted and work got really stressful, the juggernaut just took over, we were on the treadmill running the same distance but going nowhere.

“Once the renovation was finished, we knew we needed a new adventure … I kept casting my mind back to Maggie's place.

“What if we could capture something like that, a feeling of using the land and your hands, and being out in nature and being in the clean air, not being surrounded by corporate stress and pressure. That sparked pretty serious conversations between Jeff and I.”

Fast forward to 2012 and the pair became proud owners of Block Eight, 40 hectares, 12,500 grape vines, a few animals, a couple of dams, a dream to chase.

Today Block Eight contains four luxury self-contained villas for couples and the three-bedroom guesthouse. The vineyard is productive, with semillons, chardonnay, frizzante and shiraz, all sold under the Belford Block Eight label. They’re also making olive oil from the 15-year-old groves boasting 500 trees.

The dream is a reality. But it wasn’t always so idyllic. There were financial pressures, time delays, problems galore they would google to find out the answer to, their relationship was pushed to the limits.

“It was always very challenging for our relationship but at the same time it was a life-affirming thing for our relationship,” says Todd.

“I learned that Jeff will give absolutely everything a go first before he calls in the experts, but I’m the complete opposite.

“We’re a bit yin and yang, he's very practical and will give things a go, I might jump to the worst-case scenario, but we knew we had each other and we had complementary skills.

“When you're in it together the chances of you being fed up and walking away are pretty small because you have the other person to bring you back online and [say] let's look at the bigger picture.”

Would they change a thing?

“I would do it all over again in a flash,” he says.

“I wrote this book to let people know it wasn’t easy, the best things never are.

“I know too many people who are bogged down in everyday life and they're dreaming of something else but there's a list of excuses not to follow their heart.”

Thirty-Thousand Bottles of Wine and a Pig Called Helga: A not-so-perfect tree change, by Todd Alexander. Simon & Schuster, $32.99.

Todd Alexander will be talking about his book at Muse Canberra on March 31, at 3pm. $15 includes a complimentary glass of house wine or juice. musecanberra.com.au