Food Refrigerator as Wine Storage

I purchased a 36 bottle wine fridge. With odd bottle shapes like Turley, Rhones, Champagne and heavy glassed CA Cabs, the fridge holds about 1/3 less than what it was advertised as.

Does anyone use a temp regulator that turns on/off the compressor to maintain 55 degrees on a normal sized food refrigerator? I’m thinking about using my folks food refrigerator they gave me to keep the 3-4 cases of primo stuff I have for longer cellaring. Ideas?..

I don’t know whether it is still marketed but there used to be a tool named “wine stat” that purported to do what you’re asking. I would be concerned about humidity (lack there of) for long term storage.

Vibration can be a problem

Is it really? What evidence is there?

I can understand it may be an issue shaking up old wine with sediment. Young wines?

I’m curious, when do young wines become old?

According to Lewis Black, right after two slices of mushroom pizza.

Certainly, the “common wisdom” has been that wines should be aged in a place free of vibration. In theory, I suppose vibrations could accelerate chemical reactions. But there seems to be about as much empirical support for this premise as there is for 55F being the ideal temperature.

I found myself questioning the vibration premise on my first visit to Ampuis, where the cellars of some good Cote Rotie producers (e.g., Jasmin) were adjacent to the main railroad line.

We purchased a Traulsen commercial three door refrigerator and had a friend set it up to maintain 55 degrees. Held 14 plus cases and worked like a champ for 15 years. The earthquake took it out causing it to turn into a freezer and all but 2 six packs of Aussie Shiraz blew their corks. ABV too high to damage the Shiraz.

We kept a bowl of water with a sponge wick in the refer to provide some humidity. Needed water every other week. While I didn’t have any problems there is another thread where mold formed because of excessive humidity.

When I was in college and grad school- offsite wine storage options were few and far between. I lived in Austin, and my offsite storage was in Houston.

For 3 years, I used a regular mini fridge with the temp on a warmer setting- and when I graduated and my Houston offsite was full- I continued to store bottles in my apartment fridge for a few years.

Never had any issues with humidity or vibrations affecting wines at all- and this included some older bottles like 1982 Ramonet Montrachet and a magnum of 1959 Remoissenet Clos Vougeot.

Several years ago, I happened upon a small liquor store that had hiding in the beer cooler two 3 bottle OWCs of 66-75-82 Dom Perignon that had been in there for over a decade. I know because I remember when the sets were released when I was in college. They had been forgotten in there all that time- hidden to prevent theft. I bought them and the wines were superb. No humidity or vibration issues.

So for my part, if it ever came down to it- I would have no trouble storing wine long term in a fridge.

I have and do use the simplest Johnson Controls A19AAT-2C Freezer Temperature Controller for both refrigerator and freezer control between 35F and 65F. Currently I’m running 3 of these with the oldest being 5 years old now. It’s simple but I would also suggest you place a thermometer or two inside the refrigerator at different levels to make sure you hit the range you want to see.

Beer-making supply stores usually carry replacement thermostats that can keep a home fridge at a wine-appropriate temperature.

I agree with Tom that vibration isn’t an issue in a modern refrigerator; I’ve confirmed that belief to my satisfaction.

Re: Vibration.
take it for what it’s worth, but if I’m storing big $, or for long periods, I’m not taking a chance.

“I also worry that vibration over time will agitate a wine, which could speed up the chemical reactions going on inside the bottle. I only got a C in high-school chemistry, but vibration is introducing energy into the bottle, and this added activity could affect the process of aging.”

I got a bunch of A’s in grad school chemistry, and I don’t worry about vibration in the least. The only aspect I’d worry about is if were fairly large and constant, if that might somehow cause a mechanical problem with a weak cork. Certainly not a well insulated fridge that is “on” a small fraction of the time, and barely transmits any vibration to its contents.

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Sounds great! For $50 I can purchase a Temperature Controller and have the capacity of a $800+ unit without worry of odd shaped bottles not fitting.

My entire wine collection including multiple vintages of Schrader, Kongsgaard, Chapellett, Turley, Pisoni Estate, Littorai, Carlisle, Bedrock, Sandlands, etc. all got cooked in a small 90+ degree computer server room for over a week. Every bottle pulled was cooked, austere and undrinkable. The A/C unit in the server room broke after 12 years. Onto the Kenmore Fridge!!!

Gabe - One thing to watch out for with refrigerators/freezers is the weight capacity of wherever you place the bottles whether it be the rack on the back wall or stacking them off the base. Just double check to see if there are weight capacity figures.

You could probably take out the shelving and install your own racking.

Something like this - which you can put together in whatever shape you want (i.e., whatever shape will fit the interior):

https://www.wineenthusiast.com/modular-40-bottle-wine-rack-(natural).asp

Obviously you can put a board on top for space for the oddly shaped bottles.

Gabe - I can’t imagine there would be any reason whatsoever that you wouldn’t be able to store your wines in a regular fridge.

They will be at a pretty cold temperature and if you leave them for years they will age ever so slowly, but you shouldn’t have any problem at all.

As far as humidity - the fridge is pretty dry but your wine is in a glass bottle. Glass doesn’t allow for evaporation. Neither does a good cork, even though some people believe that your wine will all evaporate through the cork if you don’t keep a constant humidity that’s lower than the humidity in the headspace. Don’t think too hard about this - it’s just how religions are.

And as for vibration - I’ve looked pretty hard but have never seen any research whatsoever that indicates that the small vibration that might be due to a cheesy motor on a fridge is somehow detrimental to your wine. It’s not like the fridge is going crazy like one of those hardware store paint can shakers. Seriously - does anyone strap everything down when you it goes in the fridge? And introducing energy is an interesting issue, but can you imagine how much energy you introduce when you take your wine on a jet? Or think really hard about it?

You should be fine.

If your fridge doesn’t cool evenly be careful about the wine on the lowest shelves touching the back plate since sometimes you can get ice forming there. But at the temp you’re going for, which is as high as the fridge can go, I wouldn’t worry much at all.

If a restaurant is closing near you and they are selling their equipment, grab all their refrigeration. Everything is heavy duty and stainless or aluminum. Thermostats are easily replaced or set. The may use a little more electricity, but generally they are better insulated, offsetting the amount of time they are actually running.

I monitor the Craigslist’s in the area for wine related stuff. The restaurant supply houses in the area always advertise their commercial refrigerators as wine storage. I’ve even seen a few bars and restaurants going out of business selling these on Craigslist. Might be a place to start.

I’ve actually thought about buying a failed places walk in panels to use as cellar walls. But, I’ve seen enough episodes of Bar Rescue to be terrified of the mold that might be lurking in those wall panels.

If you want to see mold, go into some European winery cellars. Doesn’t hurt the wines at all and if you install them in your garage, or even outdoors, there’ll be no ill effect on your home.