You—a budding wine aficionado or a dedicated one-glass-before-bed sipper—might be wondering: Should I have a wine fridge? And, if so, what's the best wine fridge, really? It's certainly precise that storing your wine can a consistent, regulated temperature (that’s primarily somewhere between 45°F and 50°F though whites and between 55°F and 65°F though reds) is important. above time, temperature variations have the wine cork to enlarge and contract, which at expend sucks unwanted oxygen into the bottle and kills your wine.
Fitted with horizontal bottle racks, standalone wine caves can department your wines can a fixed temperature to obstruct oxidation and alter at flavor—and, of course, they'll ensure that wines are held can the optimal temperature though serving, too. Plus, given the broad mount of varietals and styles of wines you force be storing, many wine caves offer multiple temperature zones.
But, level so, is it really worth shelling out hundreds (or sometimes thousands!) of dollars if you’re maiden keeping a few bottles about to be consumed relatively quickly? And if you are going to invest, what's the best wine fridge to buy? We tapped sommelier John Slover, currently corporate beverage director can New York City’s headmaster provisions Group, to respond these hot questions.
“The resolution about if or no to buy a wine hollow to eat nothing to conduct with one’s level of ‘seriousness’ about wine, except during quite how many bottles you expect to eat at the house and how quickly you expect to drink them,” explains Slover. Storing neutral five or six bottles shouldn’t justify the purchase. at that case, Slover adds, “Storing wine at a dark closet above its aspect is fine." buy what you're going to drink at the new few weeks and replenish above a monthly basis.
If you’re storing a unite dozen bottles can family and won't drink them within the month, definitely ponder a wine fridge. And that isn’t neutral limited to nation collecting three-figure bottles—Slover advises keeping level your mid-range wines can an perfect temperature if they won’t be opened anytime soon. "Even if they aren’t blue-chip auction-ready wines, your wines that fare anywhere between $20 and $50 to be stored properly,” he says. “Stuff that’s good shouldn’t sit about an accommodation with rising or falling temperatures and variable humidity.”
If you've decided you're the type of wine drinker that needs a cave, there are few key factors you to consider. First, of course, is price. Wine caves flow though low though $100 and though tall though into the thousands depending above the make, size, and features.
Then, you’ll expect to decide if you want a dual-zone cave. “People who are a moment more than random drinkers to appear into dual-zone caves, which go you to site one divide can 45 degrees and another can 55,” says Slover. “Keep your red can the higher temperature and your white can the colder temperature hence they are ready to serve.”
Slover says the best wine coolers will eat adjustable shelves. His favorite brand, Eurocave, makes shelves that can be moved about to adapt Slover's collection of larger burgundy bottles. “They eat a mix of static shelves and rolling shelves, with the flexibility to add more rolling shelves. hence you can create a shelf though wider burgundy bottles and stout champagne bottles to escape scratching up labels and jamming shelves." The other aspect of that coin, he notes, is they are the priciest above the market.
You'll too expect to ponder the storage space. The best option though most nation used to be to win a 40- to 50-bottle hollow that used to agree under a kitchen counter, Slover advises. More storage space will enlarge the price: can 100–120 bottles, wine caves nurse to encounter can above $1,000. still storage space will depend chiefly above the space you eat allotted at your home, it makes sense, if you eat above 100 bottles, that $1,000 is a rational investment to ensure your wines affirm their quality. can this point, a freestanding option force create more sense.
Finally: be sure to seek though a unit that advertises calm or quiet operation though many nurse to be fairly loud.
Ready to majestic a wine fridge? We’ve rounded up some of our peak picks—at any budget—from a radical under-counter setup to a decked-out cellar.
On the lowest aim of the price range, Amazon’s best-selling 18-bottle unit fits easily into tighter spaces (hello, New York city apartments), though it plant best though a freestanding quite than built-in unit at order to ventilate properly. A smoked cup create is simple to contest with any path of decor, and the digital encounter controls go you site your perfect temperature.
A firm option though beginners with a bit more to spend, this energy-efficient, dual-zone wine fridge offers a more sleek create and higher functionality than the Ivation. It’s divided into two 16-bottle zones, with the peak (54–66°F) perfect though reds and some whites, and the bottom (46–66°F), providing optimum conditions though most whites. though storing larger bottles, the chrome shelves can be pulled out. still its manufacturers tout its “virtual silence,” the unit have to be vented to an vacant area, and therefore is no a good agree though under-counter installation.
For a sophisticated built-in wine cabinet option, this 12-inch-wide, 19-bottle unit can be installed direct into your cabinetry—a fan helps to minimize temperature fluctuations. apply the blue LED interface to adapt the temperature between 40 and 66 degrees. mind that the sliding wine racks are no removable, and therefore can no be perfect though storing larger bottles.
This versatile, dual-zone cellar is perfect though budding enthusiasts with a bit more space (and cash) to expend above their collection. Holding between 70-80 bottles, the 48-inch-tall, free-standing unit offers digital touchscreen climate control, well-spaced shelving, and a charcoal filter that maintains humidity and circulation.
This marks the pinnacle of wine cellar manufacturing. “Eurocave makes the most durable, reliable wine caves with the best warranty and service,” says Slover. can about $2,000, this free-standing 66-bottle cellar is made though earnest collectors. A sensitive-touch cope with panel and far LED lighting system offer sleek trimmings, still a built-in surprise alerts you to lowered humidity levels. It's too super energy-efficient, which makes though an attractive goods both from an environmental and cost-efficient perspective.
Now that you learn the best wine coolers, learn a moment something about the wines you department at them:
