wine refrigerator thread

[ceczar]

so i'm strongly considering buying a wine refrigerator. have an empty spot in my living room that needs a piece of furniture, have a small collection of wine i've bought in the last year or so that's currently just sitting on a rack, and feel like buying a new toy.

so who has experience with these and can provide some guidelines on what i should be looking for?

even though white wine and red wine need to be served at different temperatures, can i store them at the same temperature? because some of these have multiple temperature zones and some just have one setting. obviouly if just 1 temperature/humidity setting will be fine then i will get a fridge that just has 1 zone which will give me more flexibility.

if it says it will hold 50 bottles, how many will it really hold?

i've seen some that are really expensive. this one looks really nice but supposedly is >$3k. is this the type of product where it's really worth it to pay up?

here are some others that i've seen:
Avanti 54-Bottle Front-Venting Mini Cellar w/Digital Display

Vinotemp VT-32TEDS Thermo-Electric Digital Dual-Zone 32-Bottle Wine Chiller, Black and Stainless

The Wine Enthusiast 50-Bottle Silent Wine Refrigerator

[El Diablo]

c,

Haier makes very good reasonably priced wine cellars. I and multiple people I know have them and all like them a lot. One temp setting is fine.

[skunkworks]

I've been thinking about getting a small one to hold a couple bottles. Does anyone have any opinions on something like this?

[Perplexity]

I have this. It's swell.

[howzit]

you are exactly where i was 1 year ago. here's what i learned. . .

the choices you are looking at are basically slightly overrated fridges. the cube units don't do a solid job of keeping wine at 55 degrees and there'll be fluctuations that can be up to 5 degrees in either direction. the difference in temperature means the wine may not mature as uniformly as you think it will.

this isn't that big of a deal if you're laying down the wine to drink within 6mo - 2 years but if you're buying some first growths or decide to buy some bottles that need 5-6 years before hitting its stride, you'll want a very consistent temperature throughout the years to predict when you can pull the bottle out.

another factor is humidity, there's been horror stories of the vinotemps where the corks pop out due to temperature fluctuations and the humidity fluctuations. arid air is a cork killer and you do not want to be opening up your prize bottles and finding out they've been corked. find a fridge that has humidity control as well.

vibrations: very bad. some cheaper units have a [censored] cooling unit just like some air conditioners are louder than others. you don't want your bottles rattling around in there screwing around with the settling of wines and also letting air seep into the cork.

next, sunlight is also very bad. it'll prematurely age the wine, screw with the temperature and humidity within the unit. either go with a unit with a tinted or opaque front door or find a place for the fridge that doesn't sit in the sun.

last point, if you really start getting into wine, you will outgrow your 50 bottle fridge very quickly. i started with a 12 bottle case a year ago and now have 9-10 cases stored all over the place. some at my friends basement in montauk (3 hours away), some in my basement, some in my boss' wine fridge which is packed at 200 bottles.

i'm looking at a 300-400 bottle fridge after i get my bonus and i think that shoudl be enough for me and i need anymore than that, i'll probably just get it stored professionally at one of those wine lockers.

[mbillie1]

the OP is a trick obv, since everyone knows the only reason to "store" alcohol is that you passed out like a little girl while attempting to finish it all at once like a man would.

[howzit]

[ QUOTE ]


even though white wine and red wine need to be served at different temperatures, can i store them at the same temperature? because some of these have multiple temperature zones and some just have one setting.

[/ QUOTE ] this really depends how anal you are and what quality of wine you forsee yourself buying. the accepted temp is 55 degrees for all wines.
[ QUOTE ]

if it says it will hold 50 bottles, how many will it really hold?

[/ QUOTE ]
not 50, but it'll be close. also, you'll probably want to look at fridges that can accomdate magnums without scratching the labels off.
[ QUOTE ]

i've seen some that are really expensive. this one looks really nice but supposedly is >$3k. is this the type of product where it's really worth it to pay up?

[/ QUOTE ] my boss has the 150 bottle version of this. this is where i keep my high-end bottles.

all in all, for starters, glad to see you want to take care of your bottles and for your everyday use, i'd go with the wine enthusiast. looks good, it's got solid reviews and priced well. if you become a wine snob or start collecting, look at the top level stuff. i'd be pissed if i waited 5 years to drink a wine and it turned out corked or cooked.

[El Diablo]

c,

"next, sunlight is also very bad. it'll prematurely age the wine, screw with the temperature and humidity within the unit. either go with a unit with a tinted or opaque front door or find a place for the fridge that doesn't sit in the sun."

Everyone I know who really knows their stuff when it comes to wine has emphasized this part.

[ceczar]

thanks for all the responses so far, will have to spend some more time looking obviously. just wanted to clarify some of my requirements that i didn't think to add in my OP.

i have a medium sized NYC apartment, so i don't have room for a huge one. 50-60 bottles is about as big as i want to go.

i semi-frequently buy $50-$100 bottles of wine, but do not intend on buying wine in order to age it myself. i like to order some of the nicer stuff from www.winestillsoldout.com and/or pick something up every month or so from the wine store on my way home.

[howzit]

[ QUOTE ]
I've been thinking about getting a small one to hold a couple bottles. Does anyone have any opinions on something like this?

[/ QUOTE ]

this is a glorified beer fridge, don't bother.