A cheerful idea that was conceived in ashes

Happy customers enjoy the free wine tasting in a Cheers store in Beijing

Masueger says her philosophy is to make drinking wine fun and accessible to everyone. Under these guiding principles, buyers should not be left alone perplexed by what is in front of them on wine shelves. The idea is for anyone who enters a Cheers store to be given a helping hand, including having the opportunity to taste wines before buying.

"Are you going to drink it alone, or with friends? Will it be for a dinner or a party? Having found out this kind of information we can make recommendations, and then let the customer try something on the spot. When you give a new drinker a heavy Bordeaux red wine, they may not like it and stop drinking it."

Moscato and Lambrusco sell particularly well because many of Cheers' customers are wine novices, and they tend to like sweeter wines, she says. They then develop their tastes.

Masueger says Cheers online stores on Taobao and WeChat are just a complementary service to offline consumers.

"For new drinkers, buying online is very risky, like a lottery. You have to go to an offline store, experience it, try it, and then decide."

The most important thing for new drinkers is to discover, to explore, and try different tastes first, which can be a lot of fun.

Every Wednesday starting at 6pm, all Cheers stores nationwide open the same bottles of wine and host what are called mini wine schools. They are open to the public and free.

Also, every day at Cheers, wines are open and are free for tasting.

"We are not just a wine store. It's more about introducing a lifestyle to people and creating a community," Masueger says.