They had dreams of establishing a vineyard, but they were young and couldn’t afford to both build a house and establish their winery.

So, they simply shifted a house from nearby, placed it on a truck, and “plonked” it on top of a hill with the best view in Myrniong.

Four decades later, the McCleans are finally showcasing to the world what they’ve been squirrelling away at for all these years, hosting the inaugural Flavours of Moorabool Festival and running a series of fortified wine masterclasses.

St Anne’s Winery, which is fully organic, specialises in fortified wines with its range of tokays, muscats, tawny port and vintage port.

As long as you’re not older than Mr McClean, he can find one that he bottled in your birth year.

Mr McClean learned his fortifying skills from his grandfather. He first started making the varieties in the early 1980s when a wine glut spread through the country and Mr McClean refused to bulldoze his vines.

But the early days were far from easy.

“The wind blew and blew and blew and we planted and planted and planted. In the early days, the wind used to be so strong – still is – you couldn’t even let the kids go outside because they would get blown over by the wind,” he said.

“I don’t think the wind is an attraction to anyone...(but) it’s an attraction for me because it keeps the vineyards almost spotlessly clean. We don’t have very many mildew problems, we don’t have very many pest problems.”

The pair ended up barreling hundreds and hundreds of litres of “absolutely beautiful ports”, which have since aged to perfection.

The Flavours of Moorabool Festival will be held this Sunday at St Anne’s Winery.

The event will feature live music, masterclasses, children’s events, pop-up restaurants, and food and wine tastings.

The event starts at 11am, with the masterclasses being held at 1pm, 2pm and 3pm.

For more details and tickets, visit flavoursofmoorabool.com.au