Small winemakers. Remarkable bottles. Memorable moments. Discover the Club
California craft · Italian soul

Exceptional wines. Remarkable stories. Still worth telling.

Thoughtfully selected wines from independent California and Italian producers, with the stories, pairings and people behind every bottle.

Explore the Wine Journal Our Story
  • Est. 1994
  • California & Italy
  • The club · 1994–2019
  • 290 journal entries
Read on

Independent Producers

Small winemakers and distinctive places.

Expertly Selected

Thoughtful curation and genuine discovery.

Pairing Notes Included

More than wine — a richer experience.

Vineyard rows running toward wooded hills in morning light
A tunnel of oak barrels resting in a cellar
Our approach

More than a shipment. A journey through wine.

For over two decades we have specialised in Californian and Italian wines. We know the winemakers personally and understand which wines are classics and which are poised to set trends. While we quote scores, we go beyond numbers to explore how wines are made, who is taking shortcuts, and who is not.

Each selection travels with the story around it — magazine-quality reviews, interviews with the winemakers, and the details of the region where the grapes were grown.

1994
Pouring since
25
Years of selections
290
Stories in the archive
Discover Our Story
How to explore

Three ways into the archive.

Discover a Region

Start in California or in Italy and follow the wineries the club visited, appellation by appellation.

Meet the Producers

Two decades of monthly write-ups: who made the wine, where, and what made it worth sending.

Learn Through the Stories

Wine 101 pieces on grapes, glassware, pairing, and the habits worth unlearning.

From the club history

Three clubs, twenty-five years.

For a quarter of a century, Celebrations sent hand-selected wines from California, from Italy, and from both together. The monthly club closed at the end of 2019; these pages keep what it sent and what was written about it.

  1. Vineyards curving over rolling California hills

    California

    California Wine Club

    The great wines of California, carefully selected and delivered every month.

    • Independent producers
    • Red, white, or a mix of both
    • Magazine-quality newsletter
    Read About This Club California Wine Club
  2. A stone estate framed by cypresses above an Italian valley

    Italy

    Italian Wine Club

    The great wines of Italy, from historic estates and small family cellars.

    • Estates across the Italian regions
    • Red, white, or a mix of both
    • Producer interviews and region notes
    Read About This Club Italian Wine Club
  3. Four wines poured side by side on the head of an oak barrel

    Both countries

    Combination Club

    The best of both worlds — California and Italy, side by side.

    • One country beside the other
    • Ideal for comparing styles
    • Pairing guidance with every shipment
    Read About This Club Combination Club

The monthly subscription club ended on 31 December 2019, announced by the club itself. Nothing here is a current offer — these pages are kept so the selections, the producers and the writing remain readable.

Questions about a wine 1-800-700-6227

Golden vineyard rows below a forested California ridge
California
Two countries

Two wine cultures. One thoughtful collection.

From sun-drenched California vineyards to time-honoured Italian estates, explore wines shaped by distinctive places, people and traditions.

Our Philosophy
Rust-coloured autumn vines running toward an Italian hamlet
Italy
From the Celebrations archive

Paolo Scavino is an historical winery in the Barolo region. It was founded in 1921 in Castiglione Falletto from Lorenzo Scavino and his son Paolo. Farming has always been a family tradition and passion. Enrico Scavino together with the daughters Enrica and…

December 2019 Wine Club Newsletters 11 minute read

Read the Full Story Celebrations Wine Club Post – December 2019
The palate behind the club

Anna Maria Knapp

I taste, taste, taste — and then select those wines that I consider the most outstanding.

Anna Maria Knapp Founder, Celebrations Wine Club
A tasting table with a bottle, candles and an open notebook
No portrait of Anna Maria survives in the site archive. This photograph stands for the work, not the person.

Whether from California or Italy, I am always looking for gifted winemakers from small family-owned wineries, hand-crafting wines in small quantities that are world-class no matter where they originate.

Having developed Celebrations Wine Club over twenty years ago, I have become acquainted with hundreds of winemakers and learned who the leaders are in appellations across California and Italy.

Read the Full Story
The Wine Journal

Stories, places and pours.

All Journal Entries
The archive

A decade of wine writing.

Every month the club wrote up the wines it sent — the producer, the place, the pairing. Those pieces are still here, and they are free to read.

Pieces
290
Published
2009–2019

Collections

  1. Wine Club Newsletters Monthly Celebrations Wine Club selections: the winery, the winemaker, the region and tasting notes for each wine we sent. 179 179 pieces
  2. Hot Wine Topics Wine 101, wine trends and the stories behind the bottle, from the Celebrations Wine Club archive. 111 111 pieces

By year

Stay in touch

A better bottle begins with a better story.

Celebrations no longer ships wine. If that changes, or if there is news worth sending, this is where it will come from.