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- Wine fridge?
I've read a few blog posts about this (even one at Snooth I believe?) but I'm looking for a good small wine fridge that's nice and quiet. I don't mind spending a few bucks for quality, but I want something that will fit inconspicuously in my small apartment, hold 8-12 bottles ideally, and in a perfect world would have two zones for red and white.
Anybody have suggestions?
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1245 - Reply by mark, Feb 29, 2008.
I have one of these:
http://www.avantiproducts.com/index.php?page=products&id=20
It's small and very quiet and inexpensive (I think just shy of a hundred bucks). The only problem I've had with it is that some of the fatter bottles won't fit as well.
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3027 - Reply by Philip, Feb 29, 2008.
8-12 bottles won't cut it. You dont need 100, but imagine over time you save even 3 or 4 for special occasions you are now left with 4 bottles for storage. I'd say get a 20 bottle one at a minimum. Then you can store a few, maybe even a magnum and fit a case in as well.
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76 - Reply by andrew, Feb 29, 2008.
I found one at Target for under $100, I think it's also an Avanti, but I'll have to look up the brand when I get home, but it's a 12 bottle 1 zone cube that I keep atop my regular fridge. My apartment has steam heat which I have no control over, so the inside temperature during the winter months tends to be either 80 degrees or freezing.
I just pop my whites into the freezer for a few minutes before serving.
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30 - Reply by corskier, Feb 29, 2008.
There's a Haier 16 bottle I believe available at our local Lowe's for about $150. It's one of the taller ones, so it fits some spaces easier, although I recommend you buy a larger one as well. When I bought my 36 bottle wine cooler I actually already had a 70 bottle collection, so just my longer, age-worthy selections made it in there, but I might need a 100+ soon. You never know when you'll find an amazing sale on your fave wine and need more space right away!
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759 - Reply by RBoulanger, Feb 29, 2008.
Before investing in a fridge, you should be sure to purchase Vacuvin stoppers. These babies will preserve your unfinished bottles for days. After 2 weeks, they should pay for themselves.
http://www.vacuvinonline.com/wine/586735/
For a fridge, you'll want at least 16 btls capacity. Anything smaller will consume the same amount of energy, but not hold anything. As for the dual zones, that's kind of a misnomer to sell expensive wine fridges to suckers who don't know better. What do you want 2 zones for? So that both your red wines and your white wines are kept at "drinking temperature?" If you put red wine in a wine fridge, then it will be at cellar temperature - you'll need to allow it to warm up before serving. Meanwhile, most wine fridges won't get whites or sparklers cold enough to drink - which you'll discover the first time you open a cool bottle of Champagne and it foams and bubbles for 20 minutes before going totally flat. So a wine fridge can keep your whites and reds at cellar temperature... which is better than leaving this in in the kitchen or in the fridge. However, you'll still have to chill the whites and warm the reds before drinking them.
Here's a 16 bottle one for just $105!
http://www.beveragefactory.com/wine/wine/16-24/EWC16B.shtml
I have a 28 bottle one in my apartment that is perfect. It is about the size of a large dorm fridge and is whisper quiet, and has its own light so that you can always clearly see the labels when you are looking for something to drink.
http://tinyurl.com/3b8nag
I got it for around $200 on sale and picked it up (since shipping and handling on these things can run into the 3 digits). I removed the bottom 3 shelves so that I have racking for 12 bottles and can put 16-18 bottles in it standing up on the bottom of the fridge (Champagne, Sherry and other things that don't need to lie down plus a various half dozen open bottles from work).
If you apartment is really small, you'll have to put a plant on top of it and tell anyone who asks why 8% of your living space is taken up by a wine fridge that you inherited your uncle Rufus' wine collection and want to take proper care of it. To pull off this line, its usually better to have your bottles of Thunderbird and Cisco stored with the labels down.
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693 - Reply by gr, Feb 29, 2008.
I may be walking into a bit of NYC-sourced flamage here, but... is a wine fridge in any way necessary if you actually have a cellar?
I mean, I rent not own (for now), but I rent in Philadelphia, which means I have a "trinity" (three room--plus a rear addition and 1.5 baths--but vertically, plus a basement), and I'm far from alone in that sort of arrangement within major urban areas in the US.
The laundry machines and the furnace itself are in the basement, but no hot air comes out down there. I'm pretty sure it's not even worth two of my dollars to have a wine-specific refrigerator when I can spend roughly that on a few pieces of wood to rack hundreds of bottles in my basement.
Am I missing any solid reasons for yet another blip on my power bill?
PS, Mssr. Boulanger, the astute observer will recognize Thunderbird and the mostly ignorant Cisco for what it is regardless of label visibility.
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7 - Reply by Healy, Mar 3, 2008.
Can someone recommend a 40 or 50 bottle fridge that is decent? I'd prefer efficient power consumption and low noise. If it can fit under a kitchen counter that would be even better.
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759
- Reply by RBoulanger, Mar 5, 2008.
@Healy check out - http://oneclickappliances.com/store/index.php?target=products&product_id=33855&zmam=2315793&zmas=1&zmac=4&zmap=WC40D#description
@gr Yes this is a very apartment-centric line of thinking.
Overall, purchasing an expensive wine fridge is usually a waste. There are many better uses of your money (vacuvin stoppers, a decanter, good glassware, etc). However, if you do live in an apartment (or a house in California or Florida) you will need a way to store you wine in a dark, cool, not to dry place.
If you have the luxury of a house with a basement, then wooden racking could be your best wine storage solution. Does your basement space meet the following criteria:
1. Is it dark most of the time? You want to avoid direct sunlight, but also basement any work area that will frequently have the lights on.
2. Is it cool with very little variation in temperature? The cooler you store your wine, the slower it will age. The slower the aging, the better (within reason... if its too cold you'll have to leave your wine collection to your offspring). Varying temperatures and drafts can play havoc on aging wines. You'll want a space that might vary a bit between summer and winter, but doesn't get hot every time the boiler or hot water heater comes on.
3. Is it humid? You'll want at least 50% humidity so that your corks don't dry out too much. 65% to 75% is ideal. Of course, the more humid it is, the more fungus you'll have to wipe off when it comes time to enjoy the wines.
4. Does the basement ever flood? Even if you don't have water problems, its still a good idea to keep the bottles at least 6 inches off the floor.
Now, just as with fridges, there are many ways to spend enormous sums on racking. Skip the expensive stained racks with slots for individual bottles and spend the funds on better wine! I have found that diamond bins like this (http://www.wineracks.com/shop/product.aspx?ID=416 http://www.wineracks.com/shop/product.aspx?ID=413 and http://www.wineracks.com/shop/product.aspx?ID=406) are the most useful when standing vertically or horizontally. I am sure you can construct a working version of it for less than $642.
Since we've been having large temperature variations in the northeast this week, you might want to put a thermometer in the prospective wine cellar and check it every 24-48 hours for the next month or so.
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15 - Reply by Ryan Moynagh, Mar 6, 2008.
I need some advice...
iI I want storage for 200 bottles plus..am I not better buying 2 wine fridges with no dual temperature control, rather than 2 with this appliance of science?
Anyone know how it stacks up economically?
Cheers
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759
- Reply by RBoulanger, Mar 6, 2008.
You are always better off buying single zone wine fridges... the problem is that most of the 100 bottle units a super premium and have all the bells and whistles.
Another possibility if you don't care about looking pretty is to buy 2 regular fridges and 2 thermometers.
