[10] The Darkinjung people (specifically the Wonarua tribe) originally inhabited the Cessnock area, including Pokolbin, for more than 3000 years.

In the 1820s he studied oenology, wrote a treatise and guidance manual on the subject and briefly taught viticulture at a Liverpool farm school.

The rest he took with him to the family estate of Kirkton, just north of Belford on the Hunter river run by his brother-in-law William Kelman.

[14] The Drayton family established a vineyard at Pokolbin around the late 1850s and the Tyrrells Estate was set up in 1859 with Frederick Wilkinson planting vines at Oakdale in 1866.

[15] Tourist accommodation in the area is plentiful due to the wine industry and Pokolbin's proximity to Sydney, which is 163 km (101 mi) to the south, reached via the Pacific Motorway.

[16] Potters Brewery, established in 2002, is the Hunter's first microbrewery located in the heritage listed "Brick Beehive Kilns of Nulkaba".