Best Small Wine Cooler Refrigerators

If you're limited on space but you've started to collect wines then a small wine cooler refrigerator is a practical and decorative appliance to store your precious bottles in it.

Small wine coolers have not only the benefit of easy placement but the smallest, countertop units are portable appliances which is good when moving or traveling.

For ready-to-serve purposes a single bottle or a dual bottle wine chiller is an elegant and convenient tool to quickly chill wine to drinking temperature.

If you already have a couple of wines for collection then a small wine refrigerator can be handy for storing them at the right temperature.

Do you plan on collecting more bottles of your favorite wines? Keep in mind that once you get a taste of truly remarkable wines searching for and buying excellent vintages becomes an addiction. Before you know it you'll have so many bottles of wine you'll need a large and cool space to store them.

A general rule of thumb is that buy at least twice as large wine cooler than the number of bottles you currently own. You'll fill up a 6-bottle fridge and even a 12 -bottle wine cooler pretty quickly.

However if you live in a tiny apartment a small wine cooler will be a good starting point on the road towards becoming a serious wine collector.

Even in small capacity wine refrigerators you have a wide selection to choose from.

Small wine coolers, haier 12-bottle wine refrigerator

A built-in wine cooler can be nicely incorporated in your kitchen under the counter, but if a freestanding wine refrigerator is a more suitable option for you, you'll find find plenty of them.

Consider whether you can spare space on your kitchen counter for a countertop wine cooler. Tower wine coolers are another space-ecomomic solution for storing wines.

Regarding storage capacity small wine coolers can hold 4-28 bottles. A fairly new cooling technology based on the Peltier effect is applied in thermoelectric wine coolers.

Small undercounter wine cooler refrigerator

This concept is most efficient in small appliances, that's why many small wine coolers are thermoelectric.

Even if you invest only in a small capacity wine fridge there're some important features we recommend to consider before making a hurried buying decision:

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Thermal Insulation

The efficiency of thermal insulation is an essential factor: the purpose of each refrigerator is to maintain a constant cool temperature inside.

Avanti 12-bottle Thermoelectric wine cooelr

If the appliance isn't adequately insulated then warm air form outside can get into the fridge and warm up the air inside.

This makes the fridge to start a cooling cycle, wasting electricity.

Apart from resulting in increased electricity bills the fluctuation in interior temperature isn't good for the wines either.

Look for wine coolers with double paned doors. They might be a tad pricier but you'll save the extra cost on the electricity bill.

Further Key Features to Look For In Wine Coolers:

adjustable shelf system comes handy when you want to arrange the bottles to your liking or if you plan to chill champagne or wines in larger than standard-sized bottles
a tinted glass door prevents the stored wines from sunlight - UV rays can spoil wine
proper humidity level is another important factor in wine storage

These are just some of the major factors to take into account when searching for a quality wine cooler. When you have a list of brands and models make sure you compare each wine refrigerator to see both the advantages and weaknesses of the units that aren't always advertised by the manufacturer.

Note many people complain on the low quality of cheap, small wine coolers by brands Avanti, Cuisinart, Danby, Chambrer, Edgestar, Emerson, Haier, Koolatron, Magic Chef/Ewave, Vinotemp, Sunpentown and Sunbeam. Reviews provided by owners of these wine coolers often mention:

early failures-break downs (within a couple of months, a year or just after the warranty period),
noise and
bad customer service (in case of some brands).

This doesn't mean that each and every unit by these brands is of low quality but the frequent complaints mentioned in reviews should make one extra cautious before buying any of these units.

Best Rated Small Wine Cooler Refrigerators

Manufacturers offer a wide array of small wine coolers however their qualiy may vary. Here we gathered some of the most reliable small capacity wine refrigerators. Note that almost all small wine coolers have single temperature zone which is fine for short term storage of a couple of bottles of wine.

TIP: Find out why dual zone wine coolers are recommended for wine storage.

4-Bottle Wine Coolers - Portable Wine Storage & Coolers

The smallest wine fridges hold 3-4 standard size (750 ml, Bordeaux-style) bottles of wine. 4-bottle wine coolers use thermoelectric (Peltier) cooling, a fairly new refrigeratiron method applied in small apliances.

Brands that offer 4-bottle wine coolers include Haier, Chambrer, Koolatron and Vinotemp.

Compare 4-bottle Wine Coolers.

6-Bottle Wine Coolers

There's a wide choice in 6-bottle units ranging from US$ 80 to US$ 200.

Haier HVUE06ABB Thermoelectric 6-bottle wine cooler

This is a small countertop unit by Haier with 3 wire racks. It has a double pane insulated glass door with recessed handle. The thermoelectric cooling ensures vibration free and virtually noiseless operation.

It's available in either silver body with silver trimmed door or in black cabinet with black trimemd door. Both decors are elegant and are stylish pieces to any modern kitchen or bar furnishing.

The cooler has leveling legs for hassle-free placement. The interior light and the LED display are also standard features.

With its 11" width this is a very slim appliance that you can conveniently place in narrow places, on top of or under the counter.

haier HVUE06ABB 6-bottle wine cooler, counter top

Perhaps the only weakness of this small Haier wine refrigerator that you have to turn it on back manually after a power outage.

With the adjustable thermostat you can set the temperature anywhere between 39 - 72ºF.

Price: US$ 86 - US$ 107 (US$ 14.33 - 17.83 per bottle). In this price range the Haier HVUE06ABB wine cooelr is a good buy for your money.

Chambrer WC601S or WC601B Wine Cooler Towers - Slim Design

These two wine coolers by Chambrer are also quality small wine coolers for those who have limited room for placement.

The WC601S has silver/stainless steel cabinet and can store standard wine bottles horizontally and one bottle standing up. Read more about the core features about Chambrer WC601S wine cooler tower.

8-bottle Wine Coolers

An 8-bottle wine storage and cooler still has small, space-efficient size ideal for countertop placement.

These units also use thermal electric cooling method for vibration-free, quiet and energy efficient operation.

Brands offering 8-bottle wine fridges include Avanti, Chambrer, Haier, Emerson, Magic Chef, Sunpentown and Sunbeam.

Compare 8-Bottle Wine Coolers by various Manufacturers.

12-Bottle Wine Cooler Refrigerators

Most wine coolers with 12 bottle capacity are too use by thermal electric cooling. Similarly to the smaller units the 12-bottle coolers ventilate on the front so they can only used as free-standing.

Haier HVT12ABS 12-bottle wine cooler

This is a nice compact countertop wine fridge from Haier. It has black cabinet with black trimmed, insulated, tinted glass door. No lock and interior light included.

This is a thermoelectric cooler meaning that for efficient cooling you have to pay attention to the the room temperature where you plan to keep the unit.

To maintain the set temperature the ambient temperature mustn't be too high (maximum 13 degrees difference between the cabinet interior and ambient temperature is recommended). On the other hand room temperature mustn't be too cold either because your wine can get too cold and get ruined.

haier HVT12ABS 12-bottle countertop wine fridge

With the mechanical temperature control you can set temperatures in the range of 5 1- 60ºF.

Price: US$ 84 -176 (US$ 7.0 -14.66 per bottle).

For adequate air circulation make sure your leave 2" clearance on the sides and 4" on top when installing the fridge. This way the cooler can maintain proper temperature level without having to run a lot.

16-bottle Wine Refrigerators

A 16-bottle wine cooler is a nice size, affordable unit that costs less than US$ 300. You can keep a wide variety of wines at serving temperature and just pick one for dinner or any other occasion.

Suggestions:

Small Capacity Dual Zone Wine Coolers

A wine bottle refrigerator with two temperature zones allows you to independently adjust the temperature in the two compartments and store red wines in the warmer zone while keep whites chilled in the cooler section.

Here are some small-sized dual zone wine coolers:

Avanti EWC18DZ Dual Temprerature Zone Wine Cooler

Other Recommended Small Wine Cooler Refrigerators

Read review of the Franklin Chef FWC36 wine cooler which is a nice under counter unit with two temperature zones.

Take a look at the Haier 18 Bottle-Capacity Slim Wine Refrigerator.

Haier America offers a wide selection in small-medium capacity home wine cellars ranging form 4-bottle units up to 35- and 40-bottle models. The Haier HVDO24E wine cooler stores 24 bottles and has digital thermostat with auto settings for red and white wines.

Cuisinart Wine Chillers are compact countertop-size units offering storage from 6 to 32 bottles of wine.

NewAir Wine Coolers range from 12 bottles to 32 bottles in bottle count.

Read reviews of small capacity stainless steel wine coolers.