Wine fridge, 1, 2 or 3 zone?

Hi all,

I am currently debating whether to get this wine cooler (2-zone):

Liebherr WTes 5972 Vinidor WTes 5972 Vinidor Multi-temperature wine cabinet | Liebherr

or the same cooler in a 3 zone variety:

Liebherr WTes 5872 Vinidor WTes 5872 Vinidor Multi-temperature wine cabinet | Liebherr

I heard Liebherr is the top of the line in these products. However, I don’t know if a 3-zone model, or a 2-zone for that matter, is worth it.

For context, I also have a cellar I can convert to a wine cellar, but it’s a bit of an effort to go down there every time. So I was thinking of storing all my wine (roughly 120 bottles at the moment) in my house at serving temperature. Also, the wines range from 20-200 a bottle with some of the nice stuff being intended to age 5-10 years before I drink it.

I use my Eurocave cabinets solely to store and mature wine. Both red and white wine safely store and mature well at 55 degrees fahrenheit which is a rule of thumb average storage temperature. A few degrees one way or another will not make much of a difference. Stability of temperature will. I have stored both white and red wines for decades in my cabinets. Others may disagree but the only value I see for a 2 zone cabinet is to store some wine at nearer to serving temperature but that is neither safe nor practical. There is a big difference in appropriate serving temperatures depending on the variety and in some cases the residual sugar content of the wine. And if you store many red wines at their serving temperature, you could be hastening their maturity. Also, my inventory is dynamic so my storage requirements per zone would change frequently making accommodating my inventory difficult.

It gets down to what you want to accomplish with your wine cabinet. Safe, long-term storage of wine or storage for short-term consumption requires only a single zone cabinet. Think about your wine cabinet like you would a proper wine cellar or an off-site storage facility. Neither of those will have multiple temperature zones. They are designed to safely store wine for the long term.

Hmm, that seems to be the most common reply. The plan is to have wine ready to drink at serving temperature in the living room (roughly 150 bottles for consumption within 48 months), and when my collection grows enough, convert an underground cellar (some effort to access) for longer term (5+) year storage. Would that be worth it?

There’s no real point in dual zone; it’s easy enough to chill whites to drink in just a couple minutes. I use a eurocave sowine to make things even easier.

Single zone fridges are still in essence dual zone. They are colder at the bottom than the top.

Ok, thanks for the advice. After looking around I think I will end up getting the dual-zone. It’s worth for me to have whites and bubblies ready at serving temp whenever I want. However, I will stay away from the 3 zone due to less space.

get a single zone. easier and cheaper

Seems like a big fridge for dual zone, but w/e; under counter fridge for that seems best. We inherited one with the house but the entire thing is full of grand Marque champgne

^^^This. You also gain a bit more storage.

Another vote for single zone. I find that in multiple zones, the zones are always battling each other and constantly running the compressor, even Eurocave.

I also use this chilled drink calculator for how long to chill: Chilled Drink Calculator - How long to wait?

You guys have got me thinking. I am still leaning with the 2 zone, since it just looks great and I found a decent price for it, but I’ll talk to the rest of the family and see what they think.

Dual zone just doesn’t really make sense for what you’re proposing. I don’t even use the dual zone kitchen fridge I have for that purpose. There are few scenarios where you need to be able to pull ANY wine at a moment’s notice without time to get it to the right temperature. I have my dual zone fridge with both zones set to 45 and it full of Krug, cristal, and Dom, with a few bottles of PYCM.

Most of the time you can plan what you’re going to pull and even if you have a spur of the moment decision it doesn’t take long to get something from 55 to 45, 2-3 min in a bucket of ice and water or the freezer.

Looks like you have made up your mind. You can certainly make the choice you wish. For me, the extra cost buys nothing. Thirty minutes in the refrigerator will chill a Champagne, German Riesling or any other wine that needs to be served colder. While that requires a little planning ahead, you will have plan ahead for red wines too. They need to warm up from storage temperature.

Simplistic but good chart as a guideline.

Single zone anything else is useless and waste of money.

Ended up getting the two zone, mostly for the convenience factor for less wine-literate family members.

How has the two zone worked out for you so far Giorgio? I debated the same thing before getting a single zone eurocave for many of the reasons articulated above. That said I am in the market for a second wine fridge, and have debated getting a two zone to keep some of the whites and champagnes at ready-to-drink temp.

It was on backorder, so it’s arriving Friday, will let you know in a bit.

You get it yet? Hopefully working out well so far keeping your wines ready to drink

Hey, so the retailer I bought it from accidentally sent the three zone version (more expensive, but roughly 30 bottles less capacity). I ended up keeping it as it’s huge and over 300lbs so shipping it back is a pain. The temperature is perfect in every area, and I am enjoying having wines at the perfect serving temp. I will most likely buy a single zone for ageing only further down the line, but for now this one is working great for me.