A couple years ago, I was scanning the wine sales at my local supermarket, and was very pleased to find a wine on sale for around $7 a bottle that I had seen for about $17 a bottle a few months earlier in California. I stocked up on the pinot noir (with a few pinot grigio tossed into the mix), and the additional bulk discount brought the price down to close to $6 a bottle.

The wine was Mirassou, made by the oldest family-owned winery in the country, going on 105 years of operation. The pinot noir was quite fruity, with subtle tannins that could perhaps have been a bit more pronounced, and over all not quite as complex as a top-shelf pinot. Nevertheless, it was wonderful with cedar-planked maple salmon, creamy cheeses, all sorts of pasta dishes, and just by itself. The pinot grigio was crisp, a bit citrusy, and perfect with shrimp tacos and all sorts of salads.

And did I mention it was just over $6 a bottle?

Frankly, the wine didn’t stick around in the wine rack all that long, and I’ve been waiting patiently for another big sale.

So my heart sank a couple weeks ago when I received a press release announcing a three-year agreement between the LPGA and Mirassou, making Mirassou the Official Wine of the LPGA. I figured that the higher the profile of Mirassou, the higher the price, even on sale.

Sure enough, the big Mirassou sale this week is for $10 a bottle.

Thanks, Carolyn Bivens. Even when you do something right, like choosing a good Official Wine, it ends up making me sad.

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