Alpha Omega Collective Opens in Paso Robles: Three Wine Cultures, One Vision
As covered by the Napa Valley Register, April 13, 2023. Read the original article here.
Robin Baggett has never been content to stand still. From two-time All-Conference catcher at Cal Poly to cattle rancher to attorney to Napa Valley vintner, his life has moved with the same forward momentum he brought to the batter’s box. So when the Napa Valley Register reported on the opening of the Alpha Omega Collective (AOC) in downtown Paso Robles, it was covering more than a new tasting room. It was capturing a vision in motion.
The Paso Robles location is the second AOC outpost, joining the original in downtown Napa at 1245 First Street. Together, they offer guests something genuinely rare: three distinct wine cultures presented under one roof, woven together with the warmth and intentionality that define everything Robin and Michelle Baggett build.
Three Wineries, One Collective Vision
The Alpha Omega Collective brings together three of the Baggetts’ wine brands. Alpha Omega contributes its Bordeaux-inspired blends from Napa Valley. Tolosa offers Burgundian-style wines from the cool, fog-kissed SLO Coast AVA. Perinet rounds out the experience with Mediterranean reds from Spain’s storied Priorat region, a place where ancient Garnatxa and Carinyena vines cling to steep, rocky terraced vineyards just twenty miles from the Mediterranean Sea.
It is, as Robin describes it, a complete package. Bordeaux. Burgundy. Spain. And now, with Paso Robles itself beckoning, the prospect of Rhône varieties from California’s fastest-growing wine destination.
“We are one big happy family,” Robin said during the opening. That phrase, simple and sincere, is exactly how he means it. The three brands have now come under one corporate structure, sharing resources, hospitality teams, and a unified sense of purpose.
Michelle Baggett’s Design Vision
The AOC’s signature aesthetic, sleek black and gold carried consistently across Napa, Paso Robles, and the forthcoming Healdsburg location, is entirely Michelle’s creation. An interior designer by profession and co-founder by passion, she has crafted spaces that feel rooted in their geography without being literal about it.
“We incorporated elements of all three brands in our tasting rooms,” Michelle noted. The textured Phillip Jeffries wallpaper evokes the sand dunes of the Central Coast. The stone materials recall the rugged hillsides of Priorat. The result is a lounge that overlooks Paso’s historic park while quietly holding the spirit of three wine regions at once.
It is the kind of thoughtful detail that reflects the same care applied to every Alpha Omega wine, every event, and every guest experience at the Rutherford estate.
Robin Baggett’s California Roots
Though his family is rooted in Texas across multiple generations, Robin was born and raised in Salinas and attended Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo on a baseball scholarship. He always wanted to be a cowboy, and for a time he was one, running cattle on a historic Edna Valley ranch he acquired in the 1980s.
“I learned pretty quickly we weren’t going to make much money off it,” he recalled with characteristic good humor. “So we started to plant grapes in the ’80s.”
That decision led to the founding of Tolosa Winery in 1998, named for Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa. Robin even served as president of the San Luis Obispo Vintners for five years during that era. The Edna Valley, now part of the SLO Coast AVA, channels cool Pacific marine air through a transverse valley ideally suited to Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. It is terrain shaped by nature for Burgundian varieties.
Perinet, meanwhile, came into the Baggett portfolio when its original owners encountered the financial pressures of the 2008 recession. What they had built was remarkable: over 130 acres in Priorat, 54 of them under vine across three vineyards, planted to Garnatxa, Carinyena, Merlot, Syrah, and Cabernet Sauvignon. A region that almost faded in the 1970s is now making one of its most compelling comebacks in the wine world.
Alpha Omega in Napa Valley: Terroir as the Foundation
At the heart of the Collective sits Alpha Omega’s Napa Valley portfolio, the wines that began this story in 2006 when Robin and Michelle founded the winery on the Rutherford Bench. The article highlights the 2018 Alpha Omega Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, a blend drawing from fourteen of Napa Valley’s sixteen AVAs. It is a wine that speaks to Alpha Omega’s exceptional reach across the valley’s diverse terroirs.
Also featured was the Cordes Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon from Atlas Peak, a high-altitude site in the Vaca Mountains that sits at nearly 2,000 feet. The rocky, volcanic soils and the cooling influence of San Pablo Bay combine to produce Cabernet of remarkable concentration and definition. As Robin noted with evident pride, Alpha Omega is one of only two wineries to source fruit from this coveted vineyard.
That pursuit of exceptional vineyard sites is central to everything Alpha Omega does. Today, under the guidance of Head Winemaker Melissa Paris and Consulting Winemaker Andy Erickson, that pursuit continues with the same competitive spirit Robin once brought to the diamond. Explore our single vineyard wines, each one a precise expression of Napa Valley’s most celebrated sites.
“It’s like playing on a pro baseball team,” Robin told the Register. “You might get cut and some young kid is going to come up and take your place at shortstop. We’re always on the hunt for great vineyards.”
Why Paso Robles? Why Now?
Robin’s answer to this question is revealing. Paso Robles, he noted, is widely considered the second most visited wine destination in the country. The community has been genuinely welcoming. “Locals and industry alike have been super supportive,” he said. “The team here did wonderful community work and we’ve had great feedback.”
Moreover, the Rhône varieties that thrive in Paso Robles represent an opportunity Robin has clearly been thinking about carefully. A Rhône-focused wine program from Paso would complete the AOC’s stylistic arc: Bordeaux from Napa, Burgundy from the SLO Coast, Mediterranean reds from Priorat, and Rhône varieties from one of California’s most exciting and rapidly evolving wine regions.
The fourth hit is coming. Anyone who has spent time with Robin Baggett understands he does not speak of plans lightly.
The Alpha Omega Family Grows
What the Napa Valley Register captured in its April 2023 profile is something that cannot be manufactured: the genuine enthusiasm of a founder who loves what he does and the people he does it with. Robin Baggett moves through a tasting with the energy of someone who has never lost the thrill of discovery.
That same spirit animates everything at Alpha Omega’s Rutherford estate, located at 1155 Mee Lane along Highway 29. The landmark fountains, the tranquil pond, and the sweeping views of the Mayacamas Mountains provide a setting as memorable as the wines themselves. Well-behaved, leashed dogs are welcome. Children are welcome. Walk-ins are always accommodated when availability allows. It is a place built for people, not performances.
As Robin and Michelle’s founding story makes clear, Alpha Omega has always been about more than wine. It is about building something enduring, something rooted in place, in community, and in the belief that great wine and genuine hospitality belong together.
The Collective is that belief expressed on a larger stage. And the curtain is still rising.
Acquire, Visit, and Belong
The wines featured at the Alpha Omega Collective represent the full breadth of what thoughtful sourcing and meticulous winemaking can achieve. To explore Alpha Omega’s current Napa Valley portfolio, including AVA-specific Cabernets from Atlas Peak, Oakville, Rutherford, and beyond, browse our AVA Series Cabernets and explore our current releases.
To experience the estate in person, reserve a tasting at Alpha Omega and let our Rutherford estate welcome you the way it welcomes everyone: as family.
For those who want to carry that belonging forward, join the Alpha Omega Wine Club and receive curated shipments, member events, and priority access to wines that reflect everything we source, craft, and pour with pride.
The hunt for the greatest vineyards never stops. Neither does the invitation to join us.