HomeCorners - Don't Buy Wine Refrigerator Before You Read This.
A quick guide to choosing a wine refrigerator.
Wine refrigerators are practical way to keep wine chill for drinking or storage for the short or long haul. It come in many different styles and sizes and have a lot of confusing options.
I will help you decide which size and what features make sense for you based on the way you store and enjoy wine.
Let's start by deciding how much wine you need to store.
If you buy a few bottles of wine at a time and keep twelve or less bottles on hand, a countertop wine fridge is perfect for you.
These units are the least expensive, take up the lease space, and generally hold from four to twelve bottles of wine.
If you drink either red or white wine but not both, a wine cooler with a single cooling zone, is what you need.
You can keep your wine at 55 degrees, good for long-term storage, or at the serving temperature you prefer.
Usually it is around 45 to 50 degrees for white wine and 60 to 65 degrees for red.
We don't recommend storing wine for very long at sixty-five degrees.
In fact you may wanna store your red wine at fifty-five, then warm it up at room temperature for 15 to 30 minutes before serving.
If you like me who love both red and white wine, a dual zone wine refrigerator is perfect for you because you can keep some each ready to drink.
These models have independent temperature settings so you can keep the latest chilled more than you need.
Look for fridge with separate digital temperature readout and read powered reviews to find models that hold the temperatures steady.
Okay now let's move on to my favorite style the undercounter models. They hold from around 12 to 15 bottles of wine.Enough for the casual collector.
Under counter models come in both free-standing and built-in styles.
Free sending unit needs clearance on all side. Built-in unit can be installed in tiny spaces and they are cool looking and can be custom build.
Last we'll cover here is the largest wine refrigerator. It is so big they are full sizes and the winner.
These models are about the height of a typical home kitchen refrigerator.
They usually hold over 100 bottles. Serious collectors will have one or even more. They are great for storing wine for months or years.
How can people wait that long to drink their wine? That's a whole other story.
Features to look for in a wine fridge.
Let's not forget the cool features to look for in wine fridge.
- Sliding shelves so you can easily find the bottle you want.
- Digital temperature controls outside the unit for easy adjustment without letting warm air in.
- Interior lights, I think the blue LED lighting look sharp and
- Door locks to prevent unauthorized access to your wine.
I like to look at stainless steel and glass doors together with wood shelves.
Don't overlook the noise factor. Electrical models tend to be quieter than compressors.
There are several good units under 150 dollars but a lot more under 500 dollars, and high end units up to a thousand dollars or more.
I personally recommend Allavino FlexCount VSWR172-2BWLN 172 Bottle Dual-Zone Wine Cellar Refrigerator.
This unit has a good reputtaion for years. It does a bit pricey. But for the valuable old wines inside the bottle, the price is a good investment.
If you don't want to risk your wine quality, check out and compare the price on Amazon here before you buy any. They offer a hard to refuse free shipping services.
