How to Get the Best Wine Fridge

The most suitable place to store wine is in a cool dark environment. You may be thinking you don’t need a wine fridge because you will just keep your wine in your regular fridge.  While you can certainly store wine for a couple of days in your standard fridge, it is not an ideal condition for storing wine long term. Let’s find the best wine fridge for you.

It can be beneficial for storing wine because of the phenolic compound. It increases the taste by aging and makes it more pleasant.

Why Optimum Temperature?

The regular kitchen freezer maintains 32 to 40 Fahrenheit (0° to 4° Celsius) temperature and 30% humidity. The ideal temperature to store wine is from 45 to 60 Fahrenheit (7° to 10° Celsius) with a 70 to 90% humidity. And for the information, a conventional refrigerator produces a constant vibration. Excessive vibration can reduce the quality of exotic wines. As you can see, the regular refrigerator does not match the optimum condition for storing wine. Variations in temperatures can reduce the subtle flavors, so storing in an ideal refrigeration unit is a must. A wine fridge is necessary for it.

What is a Wine Fridge?

A wine fridge is a specifically designed preservation unit to cellar wine at optimum temperature before serving. Storing and serving wine is quite complicated. The fluctuation of temperature can decrease the taste and quality of the wine.

Most Popular Type of Wine Fridge

The most popular type of wine fridge in modern kitchens is an under-counter wine fridge. This is because they seamlessly integrate with your kitchen cabinets, adding a stylish design piece in the process, whilst also allowing for easy access to your wine when you want it. Many people enjoy the way that you can see the wine bottles, making it a wine display cabinet as well. They are available in a range of sizes, so you can usually find one that fits your space. It’s important to purchase a fridge designed to be integrated into a cabinet, as freestanding fridges can be unsafe if closed off inside a cabinet.

Do I Need One?

If you enjoy wine for its flavor profiles and grape quality, you will know if you are interested in investing in a wine cooler. If you want to experience quality wines, try them at their best. At the right temperature, wines can taste even better and you can enjoy the enhanced flavors. But if you do not intend to consume wine regularly or you are not that interested in how they taste, you don’t need a cooler at all.

How Much Does a Wine Fridge Costs?

Wine coolers are available in a variety of sizes. You can get a size of 4 up to 100+bottles. Though commonly people use fridges with a capacity of 4 to 36. These are the basic price range of regular wine coolers.

$50-$250: 

The price range of a single temperature zone, a stand-alone variant with a size of 4-36 bottles. It can also contain UV-included glass, but will not have many different features.

$250-$700: 

Within this price point, you can begin to see versions with a capacity of up to 50 bottles. Smaller built-in capacity versions are also available at this point. You will start to anticipate anti-vibration features and UV-protection glass as usual over $450.  Versions with dual-temperature zones can be purchased at the $600 range.

$700+:

The $700+ price point is where the experienced wine lover is supposed to start looking. Triple-temperature zones are popular in this price range, with most of the functionality mentioned previously. When you have hit $2000, you can expect to have the majority of the features.

Some More Coolers

Built-in Wine Coolers:

In comparison, you would pay about $600 for the built-in home use unit. Many of the built-in wine coolers can hold at least 18 bottles and you can expect to pay for that model roughly $400. For appliances with 30 or more bottles and double door configurations, costs exceed $1000.

Compressor Wine Coolers:

Compressor wine refrigerators available in a wide variety, with capacities varying from 4 to more than 100 bottles. The most common compressor wine refrigerators for personal use have sizes between 8 and 50 bottles. On average, you can probably spend approximately $325 on your machine. Models up to 8 bottles are typically over $200 in size. Coolers that can accommodate around 50 bottles cannot usually exceed a mark of $500, whereas costs for bigger capacity can vary significantly. Those are most reliable wine fridges and they last for decades.

Thermoelectric Wine Coolers:

A thermoelectric unit will cost you about $170, and it’s pretty easy to find great deals. Any 18-bottle units, for example, cost less than $120. But you are going to get a single temperature zone. However, 18-bottle dual-zone refrigerators typically cost less than just under $200, which is also a massive deal. You can check out a vast collection of the best wine fridges online.

How much wine do you intend to store?

If you create a stock, you may want a size 25-50 percent more than the number of bottles you already have. Having more space is better than what you are currently using. On the other hand, it may be less of a concern to get a large inventory of bottles – buying and selling them in a few months. You’ll find most of the wine coolers in electrical appliance stores have no room for more than 50 bottles. For most people, this should be enough. But if you plan to get a lot more capacity than this, you need to search for a dealer to have a wide range of wine coolers for your high-capacity items.

Some Tips

The best storage conditions for wine are 12° to 18° Celsius. High temperatures will destroy or reduce the consistency of the wine. If you already know, the wine matures over time, giving it an improvement in textures and overall quality.

The average temperature of 10 to 15° Celsius is ideal for long-term storage. But it is best to stock wine that you expect to drink at the following temperatures:

Red wine aged 12 to 19 ° Celsius

White wine aged 8 to 12 ° Celsius

Sparkling wine 5 to 8° Celsius

Resist temperatures above 25° Celsius as this can cook the wine and give it a braised, raisin-like flavor.

Conclusion on The Best Wine Fridge

Most of the time, buying a wine fridge is a smart thing to do. Nevertheless, whether you live in a traditional apartment or building, you would like a wine fridge if you have 20 or more bottles of wine at home. After all, it’s a lot easier and more compact to place them in the refrigerator. If you need a higher capacity, you can get compressor units. They are very expensive, but worth spending. Though both are expensive, you will see noticeable differences between built-in and stand-alone models.