Pokolbin isn’t a town or a village, but it is hailed as the hub of the Hunter Valley because it has the highest concentration of wineries, restaurants, accommodation and activities in the region. The first vineyards in the Valley were planted in Pokolbin in the early 1800’s and it continues to play a pivotal role in winemaking today with winemakers producing the region’s award-winning flagship wines – Shiraz and Semillon – as well as new varieties that receive widespreed acclaim. While Pokolbin revolves around Broke and McDonalds Roads, it also includes established trails such as De Beyers Road, Palmers “Wine Lovers” Lane and the Around Hermitage Trail.
Although much of the Hunter Valley region is labelled ‘Pokolbin’, the Parish of Pokolbin is a very distinct area, declared in the late 1800’s and lying at the foothills of the Brokenback Range in the southern part of the valley. This has always been the region’s best site for viticulture, so it is not surprising that some of the best and longest established, wineries and accommodation houses are located here.
The Parish of Pokolbin
The Parish of Pokolbin is part of the land title system under which land holdings are registered in New South Wales. The parish boundaries were established in the 1880’s and the survey into the original portions took place in what is traditionally Pokolbin on the foothills of the Brokenback Range via the Robertson Land Act in 1861. The Hunter Valley is the oldest continuous viticulture area in Australia, dating from 1832 when James Busby and his brother-in-law, William Kelman, planted vines at Kiton, near Branxton.
Plantings then took place along the Hunter River and to the north along the Williams and Patterson Rivers. Selections taken up as part of the Robertson land act introduced viticulture to the Parish of Pokolbin, with Frederick Albert Wilkinson taking up Oakdale in 1866, part of the Tyrrell property was planted around the same time, however, it was in the parish of Rothbury.
By 1900 the closest thing to a village of Pokolbin had formed at the junction of what is now McDonalds Road and De Beyers Road, McDonalds Ben Ean had at least seven houses, Pokolbin School, Pokolbin Hall, the Church of England, the Methodist Church and Pokolbin Post Office and later Telephone Exchange. Within a couple of miles stood Mount Pleasant, Draytons Bellevue and Happy Valley, Ivanhoe and Tulloch wineries and many vineyards as well as some other forgotten wineries. This was the focal point of the Hunter Valley Wine Industry.
In 2010 the Parish of Pokolbin producers joined to create the heritage heart of the Hunter Valley, which combines an exclusive group of small – medium sized family owned wineries, a wide range of accommodation businesses, numerous restaurants and cafes and a variety of experience providers within the Pokolbin sub-region.
Pokolbin – the oldest wine growing region in Australia.