Wine lover or not, preserving the flavors of the wines is essential to enjoy a satisfying wine-tasting experience. To achieve this, you need the proper wine storage and not just your standard refrigerator. A wine fridge is the perfect thing.
Since there is a congested collection of different wine fridges on the market, we made this guide to assist you in your decision-making. For your reference, we’ll discuss the following:
- Benefits of using a wine fridge
- Optimal storing temperature for wines
- Factors to consider when choosing
We’ll also provide you with our top pick – the KingsBottle wine cooler, and discuss why it’s the top option you should consider.
Benefits of Wine Fridges
A separate refrigerator dedicated to your favorite wines comes with many benefits:
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Provide Ideal Conditions for Wine Storage: This is the main reason and benefit of using a wine fridge for your collection. It sets the optimal environment that will maintain the ideal temperature, humidity level, and protection for your favorites.
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Cheaper Alternative: Aside from wine coolers, there are other alternatives for storing wine, but they tend to be more expensive than the coolers. If you compare it to wine cellars, wine rooms, or wine cabinets that may cost at least $15,000, the fridge is the least expensive.
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Small Footprint: Most wine fridges are compact so they can fit into most small and tiny spaces.
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Offer Many Features: Aside from the temperature control, wine fridges offer more functions like dual-zone systems so you can also store other beverages like soda and beer.
The Right Temperature for Storing Wine
If you’re going to buy a wine fridge, you need to know what ideal temperatures a wine storage should provide. Although the ideal temperature is 55°F, the right temperature still depends on the kind of wine you’ll be storing:
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White Wine: They taste better chilled but not too cold. These should be served between 50°F and 60°F.
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Red Wine: Red wines are usually served at room temperature, which can be between 60°F to 65°F.
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Sparkling Wine: This is carbonated wine and is best served as cold as possible. For champagne and other sparklers, about 40°F would be enough.
How to Choose the Best Wine Fridge: Factors to Consider
Type of Wine Fridge
There are different types of wine coolers you can get and would depend on how you’ll use them and where you’ll place them. You have to choose between the following:
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Freestanding: This is a standalone design that has vents from its rear or sides. Because of its construction, you need to place it in a location where the hot vent air will be able to escape easily and safely. You can place this in your living room, bedroom, office, and other entertaining areas.
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Built-in/Undercounter: This is a unit that can be installed under your kitchen counter or between your cabinets. Since it’s designed to be installed in a fit space or as a standalone, it has a front vent instead of a rear one to ensure that the air will escape no matter how you’ll place it.
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Wine and Beer Fridge: This is a dual type of cooler with two compartments: one for the wines and the other for the beers. This can either be freestanding or built-in.
Size and Capacity
You need to consider how big your wine collection is to determine the right size of the fridge to get. To help you estimate better, base it on the number of bottles you’ll be placing inside. Here are some common sizes and capacities:
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Small: This is suitable for casual drinkers that would only need to store a handful of wine bottles. A small wine fridge can be of any type and would usually have the capacity to hold 2 to 40 bottles with its 10 to 20 inches width.
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Medium: This can hold about 40 to 100 wine bottles and is usually about 24 inches in width.
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Large: This is ideal for avid collectors since it can hold 100 to 200 bottles. Its size wouldn’t increase in terms of width but in height instead.
As a general rule, consider how many bottles you usually have in your place and add about 20% in number so you’ll always have the space to put extra bottles. Still, this doesn’t mean that you should go for large-sized ones to ensure more space. The larger the empty space, the harder the fridge will have to work to cool that empty space as well, which isn’t energy efficient at all.
Cooling Zones
There are two types of cooling zones you can get:
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Single Zone Cooling: The whole interior of the fridge has the same temperature so your wines on every shelf are evenly cooled.
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Dual Zone Cooling: This means that there are dual temperature zones inside the fridge and you can set each section at different temperatures. This is useful if you plan to store different kinds of wines in one fridge and want to keep them at their ideal temperatures.
Noise
Refrigerators make noises and it’s something you need to consider since they can get distracting. This is especially important if you plan to place your wine cooler in your living room or bedroom.
The noise comes from the cooling system of the fridge. Although some people may not be bothered by the noise, you may want to pay attention to the type of cooling system that your preferred wine fridge uses.
Here are two main types:
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Compressor: Most refrigerators operate with this system. The compressor pump a refrigerant to provide cool air inside the fridge. It’s the one that makes the humming sound when your fridge is running. The larger the compressor, the noisier they can get.
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Thermoelectric: Thermoelectric coolers are run by forcing electricity through a heat pump. Since it doesn’t involve a machine like a compressor, thermoelectric coolers produce no vibrations and noise. They’re completely silent.
Additional Features
Aside from the main features and specifications, you should also consider other extra features of a wine fridge that may best fit your storage needs. These include:
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Adjustable Racks/Shelves: Wine bottles come in different shapes and sizes so check if a cooler comes with adjustable shelves. These will let you modify the space per section and provide room for your favorite wines in different shapes and sizes.
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UV-Protected Glass Door: Most wine fridges are designed with glass doors. If you plan to place it in a place prone to lots of sunlight, look for a UV-protected glass door. UV rays can cause wine color and flavor degradation, with UV protection, you can maintain the taste, aroma, and color of your favorite drinks.
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Reversible Doors: Make sure that you can open the fridge door from either the left or right side. You can install the door in either way that’s appropriate to the space you’ll place or install the fridge. This flexibility will allow you to save space and let your unit function wherever you place it.
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LED Interior Lighting: Always make sure that your wine fridge comes with LED lighting. This interior lighting will make it easier to look for your favorite wines inside. It also contributes to the aesthetic and sleek look of your cooler.
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Door Locks/Child Locks: Locks will give you the power to restrict unauthorized access to your wine fridge. If you live with minors and small children, the lock will surely keep them out of these adult beverages. The lock also ensures that your valuable wine collection is secured inside the fridge.
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Finishes: Of course, you also have to consider the polished look of your fridge to maintain your desired aesthetic in your home. This wouldn’t be an issue since most wine coolers have smooth stainless steel finishes.
Top Pick Wine Fridge - KingsBottle Wine Cooler
Since you already know the wine storage basics and what to look for in a wine cooler, the best pick we have to offer you is the KingsBottle KBU50DX 48" Glass Door Wine Cooler.
The KingsBottle Wine Cooler is a durable 2-zone wine cooler. It’s designed with a stainless steel frame and a crystal-clear glass door, giving you that sleek and elegant look. You can install it as a freestanding unit or install it under your counters or between cabinets.
Specifications
- Storage Capacity: 46 Wine Bottles
- Shelf Configuration: 6 Wooden Shelves
- Temperature Range: Upper Section - 41 to 54°F, Lower Section - 45 to 64°F
- Noise Level: < 47dB
- Unit Size: 24.0"W x 23.6"D x 33.9"H
- Extra Features: Auto Defrost, Can be Paired With a Beer Cooler, Embraco Inverter Compressors, Interior lighting
Pros
- Dual-zone cooling
- Medium-sized capacity
- Quiet
- Precise and high-end temperature controls
- 2-year warranty
Cons:
- No door lock
Conclusion
Choosing and buying a wine fridge can be a little overwhelming so it’s important to keep in mind all the important factors to consider. To summarize and recall, here’s a checklist of all factors to look for:
- Stylish design
- Cooling system
- Temperature zones
- Freestanding or Built-in design
- Door lock
- LED lighting
- Size and Capacity
- Glass door
- Adjustable shelves
Our top pick, the KingsBottle Wine Cooler, may also be used side by side with KingsBottle's beer cooler. This will provide more room for different kinds of beverages in your home.
If you’d like to check, you can go through our wine and beverage fridge collection for more buying options!
