Wine Cooler

If you typically keep several bottles of wine in your home, say a dozen or so, think about investing in a wine cooler instead of storing them in your fridge or on your counter. A refrigerator is usually too cold, and room temperature is usually too warm for storing wine. Furthermore, these two environments see large temperature fluctuations, which can negatively affect the taste of your wine. Storing your wine in a wine cooler, however, will keep all of your bottles at the ideal storing temperature (55 degrees F).

If you are looking for a decent wine cooler, the NewAir AW-180E Thermoelectric Wine Cooler gets solid customer reviews. Furthermore, it is often featured as a best selling item on popular shopping sites.

Highlights:

One thing that makes this particular wine cooler unique is its compact design, yet high storage capacity. Its dimensions only measure to 20 x 13.5 x 25.2 inches, so it can easily fit into a wide range of tight spaces. At the same time, it has the ability to store 18 bottles of standard sized 750 ml wine bottles. So, you can keep plenty of chilled wine on hand at any given time, say for personal consumption, or for social gatherings. You can even reserve some space to age a couple of bottles.

One other thing that customers like about the NewAir AW-180E is its ease of operation. It has a convenient LED temperature display at the top, so you can quickly find out how cold or warm it is inside. Right next to the display is a touch screen digital control console. If you need to adjust the temperature, all you have to do is press the up or down arrows to raise or lower the temperature accordingly.

What also makes this a stand out wine cooler is its excellent price point of $150. Similar models with the same storage capacity, and for the most part the same core features, cost nearly twice as much, or more.

Other features that you may like:

Thermoelectric Cooling – A type of refrigeration technology that is quieter and makes less vibrations than the compressor refrigeration technology found in your typical fridge, as well as some larger wine coolers. Furthermore, it is more energy efficient.

Chrome Shelving – Provides a contemporary look, but more importantly, it is highly resistant to corrosion and easy to clean.

Internal LED – If you ever want to peak inside your wine cooler without having to open the door and “disturb” your wine, you can press the digital control button found on the touch screen console to turn on the LED and illuminate the contents inside. Since LED lighting does not produce heat, there is no need to worry about causing temperature fluctuations.

Interesting Comments and Things To Know:

This wine cooler might not accommodate your larger sized bottles, as many customers have said that the wine racks will only fit standard 750 ml bottles. However, some customers were able to accommodate larger bottles by removing a rack or two.

The lowest temperature setting is 50 degrees F. The highest temperature setting is 80 degrees F. Some customers have said that their units can experience fluctuations of 4-5 degrees in warmer weather. When storing or aging wine, set this unit to its absolute lowest temperature, as the ideal wine storage temperature is 55 degrees. We prefer to chill whites at 45 degrees F when serving. So, this unit is better equipped to chill rose and red wines to their ideal serving temperatures (55 – 65 degrees F). To minimize temperature fluctuations, it is ideal to place this wine cooler in a cool, dark, well ventilated location within your home.

Vacu Vin Wine Chiller

If you are looking for high quality wine bottle chillers but don’t want to spend a lot of money, take a look at the selections made available by the worldwide brand, Vacu Vin.

Vacu Vin’s top selling wine bottle chiller is the Prestige Stainless Steel Tabletop Wine Cooler. At the time of this writing, it was the third overall best selling model on Amazon in the wine bottle chillers category. If you only keep a bottle or two of wine around at any given moment, and you like to keep things simple, this is the model for you. It’s as simple as you can get.

Just keep this stainless steel wine bucket inside your freezer. When you are ready to serve your wine, take it out of the freezer and slide in a bottle of wine of your choice. Set it on your counter or right next to you on your table as you have a meal. It will only take five minutes for your wine to be chilled to the proper temperature, and the stainless steel construction as well as the rapid ice cooling element will remain frigid for up to four hours.

Unlike traditional wine buckets, there is no need to fuss with ice or water. Furthermore, it’s not an electronic device so you don’t have to bother with wires nor buttons. That way, you can spend more time actually enjoying your wine rather than worry about cleaning up or whether or not you have the proper “settings.” Lastly, it has small dimensions measuring at 8.3 x 6.1 x 6.1 inches, and weighs only 3.5 pounds. These features make it ultra convenient for serving wine at home.

The Vacu Vin Prestige Stainless Steel Tabletop Wine Chiller costs about $30.

Another top selling wine bottle chiller made available by Vacu Vin is its Vineyard Rapid Ice Cooler. Like the above mentioned model, this wine bottle chiller is meant to be kept in a freezer until you are ready to chill a single bottle of wine. However, instead of being made out of solid stainless steel, it has rather a flexible, plastic-like construction, with pockets of FDA approved freezable gel.

This design has the advantage of being lighter and more portable. For example, not only can you use it for serving wine from your table, but you can also bring it along to parties and picnics. It has sleek dimensions measuring 5.5 x 1 x 7 inches, and weighs merely 11.2 ounces. Use it to keep your bottle of white wine chilled at 45 – 50 degrees F or to bring a warm bottle of red wine down to 60 – 65 degrees F in just five minutes. This wine bottle chiller stays frigid for up to three hours.

You’ll love the images of the beautiful vineyards imprinted throughout, as they will add a rustic backdrop to your dining table. This model in particular is quite a popular item to give as a gift.

You can purchase Vacu Vin Vineyard Rapid Ice Coolers at about $12 per sleeve.

Bottle Chiller

So you have bought yourself or received as a gift a wine bottle chiller. To get the best use out of it, it is helpful to keep in mind the ideal serving temperature of wine. Served at the correct temperature, your wine will taste its best, look its best, and smell its best, and why would you settle for less?

Each wine is different, and will subsequently have its own unique ideal serving temperature. For example, if you like red wines, serving them too cold usually makes them taste too sharp, and even bitter. Although they are stereo typed as a “warm” wine, serving them too warm will make them taste dull. And yes, white wines are generally meant to be served cold, but if too cold, much of the taste will be lost.

We’ve provided a reference guide below. Print or bookmark this page so that you can quickly reference the ideal serving temperatures for the most common types of wines, and a few tidbits of other important information.

First keep in mind, however, that the ideal storing temperature for all wines is 55 degrees F / 13 degrees C. So if you are aging your wine, set your chiller or cooler to this temperature. When it is ready for consumption, adjust the temperature as followed.

Red Ports – 66 degrees F / 19 degrees C.

Bordeaux and Shiraz – 64 degrees F / 18 degrees C.

Red Burgundy, Cabernet, and Merlot – 63 degrees F / 18 degrees C.

Pinoi Noir and Rioja – 61 degrees F / 16 degrees C.

Zinfandel and Chianti – 59 degrees F / 15 degrees C

Madeira – 57 degrees F / 14 degrees C

Rose and Beaujolais – 54 degrees F / 12 degrees C

Sauternes and Viognier – 52 degrees F / 11 degrees C

Chardonnay – 48 degrees F / 9 degrees C

Riesling – 47 degrees F / 8 degrees C

Champagne – 45 degrees F / 7 degrees C

If you prefer a simpler method of chilling wine, you can do what many of our readers do. That is, chill wines using a 45 / 55 / 65 degrees principal. This means that whites usually taste fine when you serve them at 45 degrees F. Rose and light red wines usually taste fine when served at 55 degrees F. Darker red wines usually taste fine when served at 65 degrees F.

Keep in mind that the temperature settings that we have discussed so far assume that you are immediately consuming the wine. But more often is the likelihood that we leave our wine out, as we finish our meals, or to what many refer to as “letting it breathe,” so that it can mix with the air and release the aromas for better taste. During this breathing period, chilled wine, like any other cold object, will warm in the surrounding room temperature. The rate at which wine will warm depends on a number of factors such as the type of wine and the surrounding room temperature, but it is usually 2-3 degrees per hour. So, if you plan to serve wine in one hour’s time, make sure that you wine has been chilled 2-3 degrees below its recommended serving temperature before you let it sit outside.

Wine Chiller

While considering the purchase of a wine chiller or wine cooler, you may have a few questions about the various types of units or specific models available, or even questions regarding the very art of wine preservation. You may even go as far as to ask yourself if it is even worth buying one. We actually get that question all the time. Here we address this common question and go over what makes these wine chilling devices so special.

Why can’t I just use my refrigerator?

The inside of most wine refrigerators are simply too cold. Now, this generally will not damage the wine, but will slow the aging process, which will result in less than optimal taste when it comes time to drink it after the aging process. But some run their refrigerators so cold that they end up freezing their wine unintentionally. Sometimes this causes the bottles to burst. Also, some people make the mistake of trying to defrost the wine in hot water, especially when guests are about to arrive. This abrupt fluctuation in temperature does indeed spoil the wine. One other issue about refrigerators is that they are constantly being opened and closed, which also causes temperature fluctuations. This, combined with the fact that refrigerators don’t distribute temperature evenly ultimately affects the taste and quality of the wine. Some experts argue that even the constant gyrations caused by a refrigerator’s compressor and the jolting caused by the opening and shutting of its door can negatively affect the taste of the wine.

Wine coolers and wine chillers are especially designed to minimize these disturbances to yield the best taste, smell, and color for your wines. They can auto-detect the internal temperature and make adjustments in order to get your wine to the ideal storage temperature of 55 degrees Fahrenheit. Many of them even come with a number of pre-programmed settings so that you can bring specific types of wines to their ideal serving temperatures. Furthermore, many wine coolers have thermoelectric refrigeration technology, which is much quieter than air compression technology. Thermoelectric refrigeration also produces virtually zero vibration. Lastly, by having a separate storage area for your wine, they are isolated from the consistent opening and closing of a door, which happens on a daily basis with refrigerators.

Wines are supposed to be stored at room temperature. So why would I need a wine cooler?

This is a common misconception. While many wines taste “fine” at room temperature (72 degrees Fahrenheit), the majority of wines, in actuality, taste best when served just below room temperature (40-65 degrees Fahrenheit depending on the type). Furthermore, the ideal storage temperature for all wines is even lower at 55 degrees Fahrenheit.

Another reason why you don’t want to age your wine at room temperature, say on top your kitchen counter or table, is exposure to UV light, even the trace amounts shining through your windows and reflecting off your walls or floors, can negatively affect the quality of your wine. Wine coolers are designed to shield wine from external light, either in complete darkness or with tinted, thermopane glass doors. This is very similar to how a wine cave works. By minimizing exposure to light, you will effectively preserve the quality of your wine as it ages.

Wine Chillers

There are several wine chillers available, and it can be hard to decide exactly which one to get. However, by starting with the most popular models you will find that this decision making becomes a whole lot easier, as they will generally meet the needs of most people, if not just to get a good idea of what is out there for you. Here are two of the most popular wine chillers on the market.

The Waring PC100 is probably the most popular wine bottle chiller, at least at the time of this writing it was. This is an electronic table top unit designed to chill one bottle of wine. It’s a great appliance to have if you like to have wine with every meal. Now you can have it precisely chilled so that it yields optimal flavor. It’s thermoelectric refrigeration technology keeps it quiet and energy efficient. So you can keep it running and always have chilled table wine on tap. For special occasions, slide in a bottle of your finer wine one hour before dinner or before guests arrive. The Waring PC100 makes it easy to chill wine because it already comes with pre-programmed settings for twenty six of the most common varieties of wine. Its CPU actively monitors how cold or warm your wine is and automatically makes adjustments to keep temperature consistent to your settings. With a backlit LCD display, it is easy to read and monitor the temperature and settings, and if you need to make any changes, you can do so with the digital controls. It can accommodate most wine bottles (3.5 inch diameter). Dimensions are 8 1/2″ W x 13″ H x 9 1/2″ D. It weighs only 5.3 lbs. It comes with a limited 5-year motor warranty. You can expect to pay about $80 for the Waring PC100.

The second most popular wine chiller is probably the Avanti SWC2800M wine refrigerator. This unit is able to store and chill twenty eight bottles, yet is compact enough to fit onto your counter tops, with dimensions measuring only 17″ wide x 29 1/4″ high x 29 1/4″ deep. Bottles are stored in a 4 x 7 fashion.

This is meant for the true wine enthusiast who likes to age wines before taking the first sip. Keep the bottom half reserved for aging a variety of wines, and use the top half for keeping the wines that are ready to be served at any given moment. Having a large get together at your place? You’ll have twenty eight bottles of great tasting wines ready to go for your guests, more than enough for most crowds.

The temperature of this wine chiller needs to be set manually, and you can do so with the adjustable thermostat (ideal wine storing temperature is 55 degrees by the way). Temperature, however, is digitally displayed top center so that you can easily monitor the internal conditions of the unit and make changes as necessary. It has certain features that help keep internal temperatures consistent, such as a glass helps prevent your wine from getting too warm as it does an excellent job at blocking external heat and light sources. It also has an auto defrost feature, that will turn off the refrigeration if the unit detects ice build up. That way, it your wine doesn’t get too cold either.

One feature that distinguishes this wine chiller from the rest is its black mirror finish, which is just stunning, and is sure to impress not only your guests, but you as the owner, every single day. There are only a few wine chillers that can match the beauty of the Avanti SWC2800M.

If you are interested in purchasing this wine chiller, it costs about $185.

Wine Bottle Coolers

When shopping for wine bottle coolers, there are some key features which you should consider before you make your purchase. Two such features are bottle capacity and the extent at which you can control the internal temperature.

Bottle Capacity – Your individual preferences and needs, the amount of available space, and the location where you plan to keep your wine bottle cooler will largely determine the size of the unit which you will purchase.

Do you have very little available space? Or do you very seldom drink wine? Single, or two bottle wine coolers will probably be the best solution for you as they take up minimal space on a table or counter. You can even store them out of sight when you don’t intend on using them for a while.

Do you have limited space but drink wine often? Countertop wine bottle chiller units are probably the better choice here. These are basically miniature refrigerators specially designed to chill wine, small enough to sit on most countertops without getting in the way. Most models in this category are able to store and chill between four and twelve bottles.

Do you have space to spare? Or do you drink often, and with friends? Are you a wine conneisur that likes to age wine for a couple years before you even take a sip? Larger floor models are available to meet this need. Wine bottle coolers with a 18-34 bottle capacity should be adequate for most residential customers. For business customers, commercial wine refrigerators that can store 100+ bottles are available.

Temperature adjustment controls and zones- Nearly all wine bottle coolers, small or large, have this feature, and can adjust refrigeration between forty and seventy degrees Fahrenheit, in general. However, most models will only chill one zone. This is fine because the ideal storage temperature for any wine is fifty five degrees Fahrenheit, but when it comes to serving wine, each has its own ideal serving temperature. if you tend to only drink one type of wine, such as a Cabernet, you can just set your single zone wine bottle cooler to the wine’s ideal serving temperature 24 hours before you intend to have it (i.e. sixty three degrees Fahrenheit for Cabernet). But what if you often like to have two different types of wines? Perhaps in addition to a Cabernet, you also enjoy a Zinfandel? A wine bottle cooler that has dual zone temperature controls can help you keep wines readily available at their ideal serving temperatures. In this example you would set your dual zone unit at sixty three degrees Fahrenheit for your Cabernet and fifty nine degrees Fahrenheit for your Zinfandel.

Keep in mind that the ideal storage temperature of fifty five degrees is really only necessary for wines that you intend to age for a year or more. So you can use a dual zone unit in two ways.

1) Use one half to store in number of different types of wines at fifty five degrees. Use the other half to keep wine that you intend to use up at its ideal serving temperature.

2) If you intend to use up all your wine in less than a year, just keep your wines at their ideal serving temperatures using the two different zones. If you have more than two different wines, try to group them into two broad categories, as some of the ideal serving temperature ranges may overlap for some of your wines.

Wine Bottle Cooler

A wine bottle cooler, often referred to as a wine bottle chiller, is especially designed to chill a single bottle of wine. especially designed to quickly chill one bottle of wine as it sits on a table or counter, ready to be enjoyed as you have your meal. This type of wine chilling appliance is best suited for those who seldom drink wine.

There are a number of different styles. The most popular style is the iceless design, which is a small base unit that plugs into an electrical outlet. The best example of this is the Brookstone Iceless Wine Chiller. Here are the main features of what you should expect from a wine bottle cooler like this:

Quick Chill – This function is designed to quickly chill your wine to the ideal serving temperature with varying success across the various models. It works rather well, however, on the Brookstone Iceless Wine Chiller.

LED Screen – This displays important information such as the current temperature of your wine, the ideal temperature serving temperature of the wine, and countdown timer that displays the approximate time left for your wine to reach its ideal serving temperature.

Automatic Presets – Since there are several different types of wines, a number of these wine coolers will have pre programmed settings to help you best prepare the various kinds of reds, whites, and champagnes. The Brookstone Iceless Wine Chiller has 40 presets.

Alarm – Audible tones let you know when your wine has been perfectly chilled and ready to be served.

Metallic Reservoir – To keep your wine chilled for several hours, as metals stay colder longer than other materials such as plastic. The Brookstone Iceless Wine Chiller, for example, features and aluminum reservoir.

Thermoelectric technology – A newer type of refrigeration technique that is much more silent and energy efficient than traditional refrigeration technologies based on compressors, enhancing overall aesthetics, dining, and wine tasting experiencing.

If you are interested in purchasing the Brookstone Iceless Wine Chiller, the cost is $100 and it is available at a number of online retailers.

Another popular style is the wine cooler bucket. This is a non electrical design, which you insert ice cubes into in order to keep your wine chilled. Alternatively, you can keep your wine cooler bucket inside your freezer until you need it. All you need is ten minutes before your meal or when guests arrive and you should have nicely chilled wine just on time. One of the best selling models is the Oster 4208.

In actuality, the Oster 4208 is marketed as a wine opener. However, it is a two piece package and comes with a nicely designed bucket that gets great remarks. The bucket is constructed out of high quality stainless steel that is able to retain the frigidness of ice or your freezer for hours on end. The included wine opener is not half bad either as it also has stainless steel construction. The complete package makes for a rather elegant wine serving set. The charger is rechargeable and can open up to 30 bottles on a single charge.

Wine cooler buckets are also available in marble and other metals such as aluminum.

You can expect to pay $10-20 for a wine bucket. However, if you are interested in purchasing the Oster 4208, the cost for this product is about $30-$40.

Professional Wine Chiller

As a connoisseur or a novice, at some point you will want to look into a professional wine bottle chiller. This is as much a part of the industry as the red and white blends that make it up. So if you are looking for your first purchase of one of these neat little inventions, there are a few things that you should know about the different styles that are available on the market.

This is such a broad term that it has to be taken down a little in context in order to make the right decision for your needs. You can very easily start with a one bottle unit, if you only plan on an occasional taste every now and then. These are perfect for only one person, or even if you have a guest over. It is not meant to sustain a group of guests since there would always be a lull period as it needs time to bring a bottle to it’s perfect setting.

If you happen to have several guests you can look into a dual capacity cooler. This can be beneficial in two ways. First, it can entertain a red and a white blend simultaneously, or if you happen to have guests that enjoy the same blend you can carry two bottles of the same kind. That way there is always a fresh one waiting while a empty one is replenished.

There are four bottle units available that work very well. In some models, the bottles are lined up with a glass front panel so that you can clearly see your selections that you want to make. In others, they lie down in a row and you simply pull out the one you are interested in. There is still another type that employs a “lazy Susan” style setting with the bottles lined up around the outside.

Once you go up in size from here, you open up a large assortment of choices. At this point, your decision is really going to be determined by your consumption rate, your available space and your budget. You will be able to combine any of the three or all at once and still find a viable option.

Your next few sizes up from here are usually units that sit on your kitchen counter, or in whatever room you desire to house them. They are very stylish and there are stylish variations that go with virtually any surroundings. The great thing about these are that they are still portable. If you decide to take the gathering out onto the patio or deck area it is as simple as unplugging and moving it with the guests.

Any professional wine chiller that you find after this stage can accommodate anywhere from twelve to over a hundred bottles. These units can be stand alone or built in to your existing cabinetry itself. And if this is still not enough, you can advance into ones the size of a room.

Rapid Wine Chiller

Having a rapid wine bottle chiller at your fingertips is one of the best purchases you will ever make. Not only does it compliment your favorite beverage, but it helps to eliminate an awkward scene of not being totally prepared.

If you tried to sell someone new on this concept they would probably ask why do I need one? Well, there are many reasons why this is a good purchase that will pay for itself the first time you need it. For starters, the whole concept behind it is strictly convenience. If you find yourself in a last minute situation of needing a cooled bottle and there are none, or if you have guests that have dropped in, this will take care of things. It will also come in handy if you just decide one evening that you would like a glass of your favorite blend and, unfortunately you had not thought of it ahead of time.

These devices are made by several different companies, but they each work to achieve the same result: a quick cooling of a bottle. You may have thought of just placing the bottle in the freezer to accomplish the same task. But this would end up in total disaster. For one thing, when you tried to open the bottle after placing it in the cold, it would explode. Even if you managed for it to remain intact the contents would not taste right because of the sensitivity of the liquid. And if you did happen to keep the bottle safe and let it thaw out first the taste would still not be the same and chances are the cork would come apart.

That is why these nifty devices were introduced. They can rest on your counter top and stay ready at a moment’s notice. When you see that you require a bottle to be cooled quickly, you simply open the unit and place a bottle inside. What would normally take a bucket of half ice and half water about 30 minutes to complete, this takes the time down to the 40s in 6 minutes. If you happen to like your beverage a little warmer it can attain the upper 60 degree range in one minute and the lower 50 degree range in 3.5 minutes.

So how does it work? After you put in ice and a little water, the bottle is inserted. Then you make your selection as to what variety you would like to cool and the readout tells you when it has reached the optimum temperature. The secret behind this genius is that the water is sprayed over the bottle as the unit spins it. This has been proven without a doubt to cool a bottle faster and more effectively than any other method.

The outstanding side effect of the operation is that this process does not alter the taste of the beverage in any way. That’s means a perfect temperature and a perfect flavor every time you use a rapid wine chiller.

Home Wine Chiller

If you are looking to keep a bottle of your favorite blend cooled, then you need a home wine bottle chiller to help with that. But, which one is the best? First, you have to decide the frequency of use, and the manner to determine which one is best for your needs.

The first thing you need to look at is how often you will need one. If you only occasionally partake, then chances are a single cooling unit will suffice. This could be accomplished with a decorative bucket with ice- just like you were right out of the movies. Of course, you could go the electric route and have a single bottle unit.

If you like to have that special person over on occasion then maybe go with a dual unit. These are great for small get-togethers because you can either have two different brands going at the same time, or you could have two reds, for instance, and when one empties you still have a bottle to keep things going. Both are not only easy to operate, but are also portable, in case the entertaining takes you to another room, or even outside. They even come with car chargers in case you want to carry things to the beach or on a private picnic.

When the entertaining takes on a few more people, then its time to move up. For more folks, you are going to need more bottles and there are plenty of options to choose from. You can still have around a six or eight bottle unit that can sit handsomely on your counter. These models are very attractive pieces and come in very tasteful finishes so that they compliment your kitchen, or whatever room you decide to house it in. There is even stainless steel if you are trying to match appliances.

As you get into the twenty bottle capacity and larger then you start looking into either a stand alone unit or built-in for the existing cabinetry. Your selections really get broad here and the features and accent combinations are practically endless. Some manufacturers even go as far as matching your cabinets with a custom built unit.

When you get into stand alone units they have relatively the same features, including LED display, tinted glass door to repel UV rays, soft interior lighting and thermoelectric cooling systems. Also, with the larger capacities you get into additional things like separate climate controlled compartments for various types of bottles or champagne. You can even look at wood shelving and locking mechanisms.

From this point, if you need an even larger unit you can go into cooling units that are walk in. There are much bigger types that are not walk in, but the problem will probably be finding ample space to house it. When you get into this size unit of a home wine chiller then you have to be either a serious collector, or someone that really likes to entertain.