Wine Cooler Refrigerator Buying Guide & Tips

Selecting the best wine cooler refrigerator for your needs requires some research due to the many brands and models available. We created this wine cooler buying guide to help you gather all the information you'll need to select a quality wine refrigerator.

Take your time to consider and compare the most important features and first and foremost make sure you know what type of wine storage unit you need regarding the number of zones, bottle capacity and available space in your home.

Price is another important factor but don't let it be the most significant one when you decide on which wine cooler to buy.

In most cases a high quality and well-built wine refrigerator cooler is a better investment in the long term though the initial cost might look a bit steep.

Factors to Consider When Buying a Wine Cooler or Wine Refrigerator

First of all you have to know what's the difference between a wine cooler/refrigerator and a wine cellar.

Why should you buy a wine cooler when you have already a fridge?

A wine cooler or refrigerator maintains constant temperature for cooling and/or chilling your wines so that you have ready to serve wine at hand all the time. Wine refrigerators are ment for short term storage of wines for maximum 1 year.

For aging wines and for long term storage you'll need more a sophisticated wine cellar: either build one or get a walk-in wine cellar.

Visit our wine cooler and wine storage FAQ page to get more information on what to pay attention when buying a wine storage appliance.

Our page about Types of Wine Cooler Refrigerators gives you an overview of different wine coolers & refrigerators.

TIP: Search and compare prices of the most popular wine cooler refrigerators.

Capacity of the Wine Cooler Refrigerator

Wine coolers are available in many sizes from small wine cooler refrigerators storing 6-20 bottles of wine to large models capable of holding 100-200 bottles. Collectors owning or planning to own a few hundred bottles of wine or more might consider buying a capacious wine cabinet or wine room.

A general rule is that buy a wine cooler that can hold at least twice as many bottles as you currently have. You'll fill the storage space up quickly, especially if you're on a constant look out for buying good wines.

Of course if you don't have much space in your home a 6-bottle or 12 bottle wine cooler will be a space-saving solution for storing wines. For those who drink wine only occasionally as single bottle wine chiller or a double-bottle wine cooler will practical.

There're portable countertop wine coolers, undercounter units that you can build-in the existing kitchen cabinetry, or you can buy a freestanding wine cooler model.

Note that for the built-in feature you have to look for a zero-clearance unit specially designed for built-in purposes. These wine coolers have front venting meaning that the hot air is forced out in the front of the appliance instead of the back so that you can install the fridge flat against the wall.

For eaxample the U-line Echelon Series wine refrigerators are zero-clearance units perfect fro under the counter installment. See other undercounter home wine coolers.

Some wine fridge models are for standalone use only while some manufacturers offer models that are both built-in and freestanding.

But it's still better to keep your wines in a wine cooler at a temperature that's perfect for short term storage than leave them on a wine rack in a hot, sunny kitchen. It'd be a shame and waste of money if your prized wines perished at 25°C - 30 °C. There're some great slim wine cooler refrigerators specially designed for those who 're limited on space.

Price of Wine Cooler Refrigerators

Perhaps the second most important factor to take into account is that Wine Coolers how much can you afford to buy a wine cooler.

In general we can say that the cheapest an appliance the less relaible it's. That's true for wine coolers and refrigerators, too.

On the other hand you might not want to spend an exorbitant amount on a high-end wine cooler refrigerators when you can find a good one with features that suit your wine storage needs at a more reasonable price.

If you're tight on budget it's a good idea to look for discounted wine coolers or regrigerators that have slight dents or scrathces on their cabinets.

Just to give you a rough guidance on how much wine coolers cost consider paying fro a 6-20 bottle wine fridge between 100-300 $, wine coolers with medium capacity sell for 300 - 600 $ while large wine refrigerators cost around 1000-2000 $ depending on features and the brand.

When comparing wine cooler prices use the price per bottle (total price divided by wine bottle capacity) to get a more realistic value of the appliance.

Main Fatures of Wine Coolers & Refrigerators

After you've decided on the capacity and the price range I recommend you compare Wine Coolers wine coolers in terms of main features and benefits.

Many small wine coolers use thermolectric cooling technology which has the advantage of virtually noiseless and vibratin-free operation. However a compressor run wine refrigerator usually is more effient in producing cool air. Compare the pros and cons of a traditional compressor-operated cooler with and that of a thermoelectric wine cooler.

Most wine coolers are designed for indoor use (with ambient temperature of maximum 25 ºC and 70 % humidity) however if you plan to use it outside look for models developed for outddoor placement like Franklin Chef's outdoor beverage center.

Another feature to consider is the number of temperature zones in the cooler. Dual-zone wine cooler refriegrators have two sperate comaprtmenst with independent temperature controls for storing both red wines and whites.

This feature sounds good but you not necessarily need a wine cooler with two zones. If you're going to store wines - both reds and white s- in the unit for a longer duration than a single zone wine cooler will do since both types of wine can be stored at 55 ºF

Other features to look into when comparing various wine cooler brands & models include:

Wine Coolers-Buying Tips

temperature range - a decent wine cooler should have a fairly wide temp. range, at least 45 - 65 ºF.
temperature control - is it digital or mechanical?
insulation of the door - most wine coolers have glass doors so that you and your freinds/guests can admire your wine collection. Glass doors however are less good at keeping warm air getting into the fridge from the outside so always look for wine cooelrs with double pane, tempered glass doors.
A tinted glass door is another useful feature because it's designed to filter out UV rays that can be harmful to wines incase of long-term exposure.
also check the opening direction of the door: in case of some models you have to specify whether you need a left- or right hand door swing while other wine cooler units have reversible doors.
humidity control - according to wine storage experts for proper aging a 50-75% humidity level is recommended. This feature is especially important if you live in a dry climate.
The cheaper wine cooler models most likely don't have adequate humidity level but your purpose with a small wine fridge is not wine aging but short-term cooling or chilling.
More advanced wine refrigerators like the ones manufactured by Sub-Zero are equipped with evaporators for maintaining constant, moderate (50-60%) humidity.
Eurocave wine cabinets have advanced humidity systems with the unique feature of displaying humidity levels warning of inadequate humidity level.
racking system: note that many wine cooers can accommodate only standard 750 ml wine bottles. If you tend to purchase wines in wide, non-tradtional bottles or if you want to cool magnums than look always check what sort of shelving the cooler has.
You'll find that most wine refrigerator models have chrome wire racks, other more expenisve units come with metal racks with wood front, and all high-end wine cooelrs have wooden shelves.
Wire racks have the disadvantage of bending under the weight of bottle after some time and they can accidentally scratch the labels on the bottles. Wooden shelves however take up more space.
automatic defrost - to avoid build-up frost: a built-in timer warms up a heating coil to melt possible ice layers. More advanced fridges are equipped with energy saving defrost systems called adaptive defrost control that monitors usage of the appliance and how long does it take for the evaporator coil to get totally frost free.
Decor - consider what color and style match the best the room furnishing where you're going to place the wine cooler. What sort of customization des the manufaturers offer?

Additional wine cooler/refrigerator fetaures to consider

Door lock - if you're buying a wine cooler to be palced in a restaurant or bar make sure the unit is equipped wtih door lock and key. you might also want to have a safety lock on the cooler if you don't want your kids to be able to open the cooler and have access to your wines.
Leveling legs - allow hassle-free palcement.
"Sabbath" or "Black Out" mode - you can set the wine cooler/refrigerator to disable lighting and display functions during religious occasions.

More Wine Cooler Buying Tips

Check the length and other terms of warranty the wine cooler or refrigerator carries- what parts are included in it? Is the comressor included in the warranty? Manufacturers and retailers don't always state their warranry terms clearly so it pays to ask about it.
Does the manufacturer offers some sort of money back guarantee?
Does the manufaturer have extensive service network? Do they have a service representative nearby your home? The consumer complaints on some danby Dual Zone Wine Cooler Refriegartors are worth taking a lookat.

Use this wine cooler buying guide to narrow your choices down to 2-3 wine cooler models that you think suit your needs and budget the best. To decide on which wine refrigerator model to buy do a last comparison and read reviews provided by other user of he unit.