On Wednesday, December 10, 2025, we once again interviewed Melissa Paris. Melissa is the winemaker for Alpha Omega Winery. We covered eight of her new 2023 vintage wines. All were Cabernet Sauvignon offerings from single vineyards. We met and interviewed Melissa for the first time in December 2024. In our previous interview with Melissa, we covered the 2022 vintage wines as well as more about her background and the winery. You can learn what is new with Melissa and at Alpha Omega and read all about the terrific 2023 wines, in this post.
Before we get to the wine reviews, I thought I would share a few new tidbits we learned during the tasting with Melissa.
- 2023 Vintage – A big vintage!
- Winemakers dream vintage. (Like 2018 & 2021 combined)
- Valley floor focused.
- Lots of fruit. (30% more)
- Really late pick. (Picked in late Nov./Dec.
- A collector’s vintage.
- 2024 Vintage
- Fruit was ready on time.
- Mountain fruit did ripen early. Especially Atlas Peak.
- Not as big of a harvest as 2023.
- There is more acidity in 2024.
- Melissa is happy with the wines.
- 2025 Vintage
- Bigger than expected crop.
- Started as a really good vintage.
- Serious rain happened during harvest.
- They picked first 45% of the harvest before the rains.
- 10% definitely could be lost.
- Some results could be mixed.
- Paratus Vineyard
- First single vineyard wine was vintage 2022.
- It is their only dry-farmed vineyard.
- It has very old vines, that were grafted over from Chardonnay.
- Thomas Vineyard – 7 acres and they have 9 blocks.
- Pick decisions here are crucial.
- They do control the farming, so that helps!
- Beckstoffer Georges III Vineyard – Paris’s favorite old vineyard.
- After 2023 they ripped out the vineyard.
- Ideal comeback will be in 4 years from the replant.
- They have had 2 blocks Beckstoffer’s To Kalon Vineyard. They now have a 3rd
- Pick decisions at this vineyard are critical.
- In 2023 they picked 2 blocks 5 days apart.
- Beckstoffer’s Bourn Vineyard is a small vineyard across the street from Dr. Crane!
- AO is in the old 1996 and 1997 blocks.
- Cathy Corison was in there before them.
- Sleeping Lady is always their last vineyard to be harvested.
- It is in the Mayacamas mountains and does not get a lot of hot sunshine.
- Tench Vineyard is in the very eastern part of Oakville.
- The vineyard has very good drainage,
- The vineyard backs up to Screaming Eagle.
- All the Cab from Tench goes into the single vineyard bottling.
- Andy Erickson is their consultant. They have a solid mentor relationship.
- He is involved in blending and quality control.
- They text every day during harvest!
- Melissa’s philosophy on picking.
- They only pick at night.
- Her three parts of the picking decision process.
- 1/3 Chemistry. (The #’s)
- 1/3 Taste.
- 1/3 Guts and Experience. (No guts – No Glory!)
- Finally, Melissa has great support from her owners. (Robin and Michelle Baggett)
Below is a summary of the wine offerings from Alpha Omega that we covered. The links below are to our full reviews. If you are interested in ordering and trying these wines, you will find some of these wines via your favorite fine wine shop or on top quality wines lists. You can also purchase these wines on the Alpha Omega website.
1) Alpha Omega 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon “Paratus Vineyard” (Mt. Veeder) $300 (KWGTP 93.5)
2) Alpha Omega 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon “Stagecoach Vineyard” (Atlas Peak) $300 (KWGTP 96.5)
3) Alpha Omega 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon “Thomas Vineyard” (Rutherford) $300 (KWGTP 96)
4) Alpha Omega 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon “Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard” (Oakville) $300 (KWGTP 96.5)
5) Alpha Omega 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon “Beckstoffer Georges III Vineyard” (Rutherford) $300 (KWGTP 95.5)
6) Alpha Omega 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon “Beckstoffer Bourn Vineyard” (St. Helena) $300 (KWGTP 96.5)
7) Alpha Omega 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon “Tench Vineyard” (Oakville) $300 (KWGTP 97)
8) Alpha Omega 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon “Sleeping Lady Vineyard” (Yountville) $300 (KWGTP 97)
Additional Wine Covered After Our Tasting With Melissa. (So Far)
9) Alpha Omega 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon “Rutherford” $170 (KWGTP 94)
10) Alpha Omega 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon “ERA” (Napa Valley) $340 (KWGTP 96)
You can find reviews of past and future Alpha Omega wines that we cover on the KWG Alpha Omega winery page on our website. We hope you enjoy these terrific wines as much as we did. Cheers! – Ken