As the family settled, their interest in the region became more substantial with their purchase of forty acres of vines in 1908, displaying their incredible foresight and commitment to the area. Owen Redman was born in 1919, becoming the first member of the Redman family to be born in the area, confirming the family's association with Coonawarra and its winemaking history.

Bill Redman's greatest desire and passion was the crafting of fine red wines, therefore in 1921 he handed over the responsibility of distribution to Woodley Wines. His faith in the acclaimed terra rossa and in his own ability was truly vindicated when the 1932 Redmans Claret won the 1936 Empire Wine Show in London.

Just prior to enlisting in the army in 1938, Owen Redman completed his first vintage, and it reaffirmed his longing to continue the family tradition of fine wine making. Upon his return from the Second World War, Owen found that the family winery had undergone surprising growth, due to the support they received from many local grape growers. In 1947 Redman's first entry into the Australian Show arena took top prize at the Adelaide Wine show, this not only enhanced the reputation of the Redman winery but also established Coonawarra as a great wine growing region.

In the ensuing years the Redman family was actively involved in all the major developments in the now famous Coonawarra. After joint venture agreements were entered into with both Penfolds and Mildara, and several significant accolades had been awarded to the Redman claret; Lindemans decided that a winery of such high standing would make a valued contribution to their portfolio. Therefore in 1965 they purchased the original Redman property and renamed it Rouge Homme

Driven by the pride and honour of the Redman name, Owen re-established the family winery in the following year by purchasing a vineyard owned by Arthur Hoffman. Continued success and growth allowed the Redman family to increase their holdings, and eventually acquire the land on which the winery stands today. After a lifetime of serving his family, the Australian Wine Industry, and in particular his beloved Coonawarra, Bill Redman died a proud and honourable man in 1979. With the passing of Owen Redman in 1989, control of the winery passed into the hands of Bruce and Malcolm Redman, the third generation of the family dynasty.

Alexander Park had its first vintage in April 1999, with all expectations of quality far exceeded. At full capacity the winery is able to process up to 7,500 tonnes of fruit. Designed by award winning architect Scott Shelton, the winery is not only aesthetically pleasing, but also very practical.

The winery has two functions. The first is the production the house's own brands, and the second function is to provide contract winemaking services for numerous Australian wine companies, presently including Southcorp. The property is 140 kilometres north of Melbourne, off the Hume Highway, located in the Strathbogie Ranges at 510 meters above sea level. The property is 2,200 acres or 890 hectares in size, whilst the topography is classified as undulating to hilly.

In November 1998, 109 acres of vines were planted: 15 acres of Shiraz, 15 acres of Pinot Noir, 35 acres of Sauvignon Blanc, 17 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon, 11 acres of Merlot and 15 acres of the Bernard Clones of Chardonnay. In September 1999 there were further plantings including 5 acres of Riesling, 5 acres of Verdelho and 7 acres of Chardonnay. Three types of trellising have been used at Dominion Estates; Vertical Shoot Position, Scott Henry and Geneva Double Curtain. Fifty per cent of the vineyard is VSP, 40% is Scott Henry, and the remainder is GDC.

Trellis design has been selected keeping in mind the vineyard's aims of 'Super Premium' wine grape production while still maintaining a cost effective approach to the management. Different trellis types impart individual flavour characteristics. The aim of selecting these trellis types is to obtain distinctively different grape flavours and therefore more complexity in the finished wine.

Irrigation is used to supplement the vines' moisture requirements during the hotter summer months. Water is stored in three large reservoirs and is applied to the vines through a state of the art pump and micro irrigation dripper system, supplied by Netafim Irrigation Systems.

Arakoon aim at producing styles which the winemakers themselves would like to drink. Inspirational producers around the world include amongst others: Guigal, Graillot, Rayas, Clape, Pegau, Trevallon, Rousseau and J.J. Confuron (reds), and FX Pichler, Knoll, Coche-Dury, Marcel Deiss and JJ Prum (whites). Whithin Australia, Arakoon are fans of Mount Mary, Noons, Bowen's, Summerfield, Wendouree, Lakes Folly and Jasper Hill. Notably, Australia and McLaren Vale produces grapes that differ from the European favourites, so physical emulations are therefore impossible. The quality however that these producers routinely achieve is very much a target to emulate.

Arakoon believe that experimentation is the key to achieving higher and higher levels of quality. It is easy to make a prediction of what happens in response to certain treatments, however, any real answer will only come from trials. Tests are routinely conducted with synthetic corks vs. a range of natural corks, the number of times a wine should be racked, the effect of fining rates, primary fermentation in barrel vs. vat, pre- and post-fermentation maceration, etc... and there is more to come.

After tasting Arakoon you may become surprised that some of the wines taste quite different from most other South Australians, more elegant and understated perhaps. This is a stylistic objective resulting from extended maceration post-fermentation, the use of subtle new French oak amongst other old barrels and blending towards the above stated aim. These styles sometimes are a better match with food rather than big and overtly fruity wines.

Wines are graded into a big and a light or elegant group. The big group contains the Big, fat & gutsy (BFG), the Sellicks Beach and the Doyen. The remainder are more on the lighter side. Sellicks Beach/BFG blend is based on little new wood and wines that have a porty, jammy element in them, whilst reserve Shiraz and the doyen are more stamped by subtle new French oak and varietal aromas. The Lighthouse/DBB blend is an attempt at producing an elegant Cabernet Shiraz modeled after the likes of Dom. du Trevallon in Provence.

Arakoon don't own or manage vineyards but they have firm views on viticulture. Since inaugural vintage, Aakoon have brought in grapes from vines that have yielded miserably and from vines that have had reasonably large crops, from vines that were two years young, up to a hundred years old, from vines that have ripened their fruit early and late, and with varying degrees of ripeness (10.5 to over 16% potential alcohol!). In Summary, the best wine so far (doyen) have come from two year old vines that ripened early. Arakoon have seen examples where low yielding vines produce wine that is not too special, whilst reasonably high yielding vines give very nice fruit (and therefore wine). At vintage, Arakoon produce a large range of varying batches that differ in grape, geographical origin and winemaking treatments. Some vineyards are harvested at two ripeness levels. The different batches are kept separate all the way until blending. For such a tiny winery, Arakoon can end up with a substantial number of batches, between 15-25 depending on the vintage. Subsequently the batches are grouped according to style or potential. Not only structure, but flavours are considered.

Ashton Hills vineyard has evolved substantially since it was planted in 1982, a time when modern viticulture in the Adelaide Hills was just starting to be embraced. The clonal development of the vineyard has been a critical element in the final blend of each wine, taking advantage of the individual character of each clone in a given vintage. Over the past 26 years, significant changes have been implemented in the vineyard, with the grafting or removal of nearly all other varieties to complete an estate that is dominated by pinot noir, but with a small parcel – just eight rows – of top notch riesling remaining. The winery itself has an earthen floor and what is best described as limited winemaking equipment.

Grapes are all hand picked and gently destemmed, via a small customised, gentle destemmer that keeps as many whole berries as possible. Fermentation involves open air tanks and regular hand plunging with temperatures monitored and managed utilising the cool night time temperatures common during harvest.

In addition to the Ashton Hills estate, Stephen draws fruit from the cemetery near Uraidla in Piccadilly Valley, to make Piccadilly Valley Pinot Noir. As the site is warmer, drier and has deeper soils, the fruit at Cemetery Block is typically picked a couple of weeks earlier and the wine showcases the character of the site with more muscle and ripe fruit flavour than the higher and cooler Estate vineyard.

To round off the range with something a little different, Stephen has consistently sourced fruit from Wendouree’s acclaimed vineyards in the Clare Valley to make a spectacular Sparkling Shiraz. Wendouree is one of the most famous red wineries in Australia and a place that Stephen knows well, given he has been making the wine there for over 40 years. Despite his modest protest to the contrary, Stephen’s winemaking CV is an enviable one, with his life’s work at Ashton Hills complemented by three decades of winemaking at Wendouree, one of Australia’s most revered and unique wineries. The contrast in style between the elegant and delicate wines of Ashton Hills and the extraordinarily powerful wines of Wendouree could not be greater, and yet Stephen has managed to achieve resounding success in both.

Stephen’s pioneering work at Ashton Hills was one of the catalysts for the development of Adelaide Hills as a wine region. Along with Brian Croser, Stephen was one of the key players to put Adelaide Hills on the map with his resolve to produce the best pinot noir in the country from his site in the Piccadilly Valley. Following 30+ vintages at Ashton Hills, Stephen has become recognised as one of Australia’s finest makers and growers of pinot noir. His philosophy on the winemaking process is very simple, with a focus on minimal intervention and movement of the wine.