Wine Fridge Choices
November 8, 2015 6:10 PM Subscribe
Recommend a built-in under counter wine fridge for me.
I like wine, and I'm planning on buying a wine fridge for storage. Detailed review of these seem to be lacking online. I'm hoping the hive has some preferred models to make the selection easier, as most of the retailers I'm talking to are trying to push 1200+ dollar models on me. I can make that happen if that's what quality will take, but I'd like someone that isn't making commission on my purchase to tell me that.
Regarding must-haves, the only thing I need it to do is not blow up the moment it's out of warranty, and for it to fit in a 24" space. Dual-zone, single zone, racks are all negotiable.
I like wine, and I'm planning on buying a wine fridge for storage. Detailed review of these seem to be lacking online. I'm hoping the hive has some preferred models to make the selection easier, as most of the retailers I'm talking to are trying to push 1200+ dollar models on me. I can make that happen if that's what quality will take, but I'd like someone that isn't making commission on my purchase to tell me that.
Regarding must-haves, the only thing I need it to do is not blow up the moment it's out of warranty, and for it to fit in a 24" space. Dual-zone, single zone, racks are all negotiable.
Are you planning to store stuff for long term aging, or just short and mid term consumption? The longer you plan to store your wines, the more you should think about investing in a better unit, but I'm not sure an under counter unit is a great way to go for long term storage anyway. In any case, Eurocave and Lecache are solid.
posted by primethyme at 9:20 PM on November 8, 2015
posted by primethyme at 9:20 PM on November 8, 2015
I wrote the last reply on my phone. Now that I'm at my computer, I wanted to expand a little bit.
First, my experience is that the salespeople at appliance stores know virtually nothing about wine storage. All they can do is recite to you want the manufacturer claims in their marketing materials. I would not rely on them for anything other than pricing.
Second, if you're serious about storing wine for aging, I do not recommend doing it with an under-counter unit. They generally are not designed for that purpose, because people who are serious enough about wine to age it are going to have a lot more than will fit in one of those (and if you're one of them, you'll probably fill it up in a couple of months). For long term storage, I strongly recommend that you look into off-site storage (there are almost surely facilities for this in your area), or get a full-sized cabinet from a reputable company like Le Cache or Eurocave. They aren't cheap, but they are better quality than most of what you'll get at an ordinary appliance store.
With that out of the way, I'd probably just buy an under-counter unit from Costco or something for the shorter-term stuff. My impression is that they're all fairly crappy, even if you spend a lot, so I'd be inclined to go on the cheaper end here. That way if it blows up in 5 years, it won't hurt so much to replace it. The expensive ones tend to be better at holding steady temperature, which is not really critical if you're not storing stuff for a long time. My house came with a Kitchenaid under counter unit which is fine, and I use it for daily drinker wines. The rest I keep in larger cabinets from the aforementioned brands, and at a local wine storage facility.
The bottom line is, you need to figure out your main goal, and let that direct your purchasing decision. wnissen's suggestion of searching Wineberserkers is good, but keep in mind that almost everyone there is on the long-term storage end of the spectrum, so that's what they're optimizing for. If that doesn't describe what you want to do, they may steer you to a more expensive solution than you need.
posted by primethyme at 10:19 PM on November 8, 2015
First, my experience is that the salespeople at appliance stores know virtually nothing about wine storage. All they can do is recite to you want the manufacturer claims in their marketing materials. I would not rely on them for anything other than pricing.
Second, if you're serious about storing wine for aging, I do not recommend doing it with an under-counter unit. They generally are not designed for that purpose, because people who are serious enough about wine to age it are going to have a lot more than will fit in one of those (and if you're one of them, you'll probably fill it up in a couple of months). For long term storage, I strongly recommend that you look into off-site storage (there are almost surely facilities for this in your area), or get a full-sized cabinet from a reputable company like Le Cache or Eurocave. They aren't cheap, but they are better quality than most of what you'll get at an ordinary appliance store.
With that out of the way, I'd probably just buy an under-counter unit from Costco or something for the shorter-term stuff. My impression is that they're all fairly crappy, even if you spend a lot, so I'd be inclined to go on the cheaper end here. That way if it blows up in 5 years, it won't hurt so much to replace it. The expensive ones tend to be better at holding steady temperature, which is not really critical if you're not storing stuff for a long time. My house came with a Kitchenaid under counter unit which is fine, and I use it for daily drinker wines. The rest I keep in larger cabinets from the aforementioned brands, and at a local wine storage facility.
The bottom line is, you need to figure out your main goal, and let that direct your purchasing decision. wnissen's suggestion of searching Wineberserkers is good, but keep in mind that almost everyone there is on the long-term storage end of the spectrum, so that's what they're optimizing for. If that doesn't describe what you want to do, they may steer you to a more expensive solution than you need.
posted by primethyme at 10:19 PM on November 8, 2015
Be careful to buy a front venting unit if you're really doing an undercounter installation (like a dishwasher). All the cheapest units that are counter height vent out the back and actually need to be stand-alone; a true under-counter unit will cost more. I bought a 24" Danby - the cheapest dual zone under-counter I could find, at about $900 - about a year ago and have been satisfied with it: it works, it is relatively quiet. Downsides are that the dual-zone feature only sort of works - there is only one compressor, so you can't really set the temperatures completely independently - and drawer slides look and feel flimsy. I use this unit as a staging area for wines I will drink relatively soon, not for long term storage.
posted by mr vino at 1:00 AM on November 9, 2015
posted by mr vino at 1:00 AM on November 9, 2015
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by wnissen at 9:02 PM on November 8, 2015