The U.S. Postal Service Has Finally Issued Wine Lovers Their Very Own Stamp

So far, 2016 has been a very good year for vino lovers across America. Domestic wine sales continue to grow, Americans are buying more of the beverage online than ever before—and last week, the U.S. Postal Service issued a new 5-cent stamp that features two clusters of pinot noir grapes growing on the vine, Food & Wine reports.

Graphic designer Derry Noyes—who has served as an art director for the USPS stamp program since 1983—created the 2016 Grapes stamp based on an illustration by John Burgoyne, a longtime backcover artist for Cook's Illustrated Magazine. According to the USPS, Burgoyne used pen, ink, and watercolor to produce the original art.

The new stamp will likely have lots of fans. Studies show that wine aficionados began purchasing more Pinot Noir wines after the 2004 film Sideways featured a snobbish character named Miles who praised the virtues of Pinot Noir while refusing to drink Merlot. Since then, sales have continued to climb for wines made from the Pinot Noir grape—a thin-skinned fruit that’s difficult to cultivate since it’s sensitive to diseases, soil conditions, frost, mildew, and crop yield size.

Unfortunately, you can't mail a letter solely with a 5-cent stamp, and the USPS says the new piece of postage was "created primarily for business mailers.” However, if you’re a pinot noir fan—or you simply love a glass of vino—then you can purchase yourself a strip of 500 for $25 at your local post office.