Jia you! | British, Swiss wine trade pair in Napa for China message

British writer Jancis Robinson and Swiss businesswoman Claudia Maseuger, owner of the Beijing-headquartered CHEERS wine store chain, teamed up in Napa Valley recently to send their best to China as it handles the coronavirus crisis.

“I’d just like to say that we wine lovers of the world are thinking of you all in China,” said Robinson, who added a pair of “jia yous” at the end. Jia you translates to “add fuel” or “add oil” and is offered as words of encouragement to “keep going!” Here’s the video:

Robinson and Masueger were in Napa last month for Export 2020: California Wine Global Export Conference, hosted by the (California) Wine Institute.

The video was included in a message to CHEERS WeChat subscribers a week ago, along with info on two of Robinson’s books that are available in Chinese. The message also included details on Masueger’s efforts to source masks to send to China and help with the coronavirus crisis.

Robinson has been a frequent visitor to China and over the past 15 years has been to vineyards in regions and provinces as far and wide as Hebei, Ningxia, Shandong, Shanxi and Xinjiang.


Sign up for the Grape Wall newsletter here. Follow Grape Wall on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. And see my sibling sites World Marselan DayWorld Baijiu Day and Beijing Boyce. Grape Wall has no advertisers, so if you find the content useful, please help cover the costs via PayPal, WeChat or Alipay. Contact Grape Wall via grapewallofchina (at) gmail.com.

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply