The venture, under the Boydell's banner, is at 2 Green Street, Morpeth (open Wednesday to Sunday).

The combined cellar door and restaurant is a first for Morpeth and is housed in a picturesque building that pays homage to the riverfront town's trading history and the link with Charles Boydell.

Boydell's vineyard on the Allyn River is named after Charles Boydell, who settled the property in 1826 and planted some of the first vines in the Hunter.

"We took over the property in 2015, moving our family from western NSW to pursue our dream of small-scale wine production," Daniel Maroulis said.

'We are leasing the Green Street building which has had quite a few lives, but the original slab building was built in the 1850s. It was once a blacksmiths, but the relevance to us is that Charles Boydell frequented Morpeth when he was trading his tobacco and wine."

Boydell's wines have already garnered an enviable reputation. Maroulis, who is a farmer and a vigneron, works closely with winemaker Liz Silkman from First Creek Wines. This summer will be their fourth vintage.

"I've been involved in farming all my life," Maroulis said. "I'm originally from Bourke where I was involved in a lot of cattle grazing, then studied at the university in Armidale, then we had our own farm in Narromine.

"We chose Morpeth for our cellar door because it has a lot of character, a lot of weekend business and a lot of local patronage as well during the week.

"As with any small business, we sell a lot of wine at wholesale within a 100-kilometre radius but, honestly, the more we can sell at full retail, the better it is for our business. We did discuss having a standalone cellar door but then we this building came up and it had a commercial kitchen in it. We found our head chef at the same time.

The restaurant, led by head chef Sheldon Black, will open from lunch on Friday through to Sunday dinner. At other times, the cellar door will offer wine sales and tastings which can be paired with local cheese platters. The seasonal menu will focus on locally sourced produce. There are no shortage of farms to choose from nearby.

Phone 0400 509 477 or visit boydells.com.au for bookings.