I currently have an 18 bottle vinotemp, that is on the out. I’m looking into repairing it, BUT
One thing with this cooler is, it only goes to 54 degree chill.
I’d like to find one that chills let say to 44ish degrees. Just me!! If we go to dinner and I’m at 54 degrees its warm by the time we get their. And I like my wines to start a bit cooler too.
help? ideas ?
That would be a refrigerator.
My experience has been that if you get the cheap ones from Lowes or Home Depot [on sale, never pay full retail], and if you set the thermostat to “Max” or “10” or whatever, then they’ll freeze the wine solid as a rock.
So set the thermostat back just a little, unless you like tartrate crystals in your wine.
Also, keep an eye on your local Craigslist [although be forewarned that wine people tend to have a vastly exaggerated sense of the true market value of used wine stuff].
And get some inexpensive mercury thermometers to hang in there and keep track of the actual temperature.
I have 3 50+ bottle wine fridges purchased over a couple years from Home Depot. The oldest is going on probably 5 or 6 years old. Never saw them on sale before or after. Regardless, they have performed well and are adjustable to 39°.
I’ve had to fine tune the adjustments a tad to get what I actually want as opposes to what the digital display reads but the temp holds as set afterwards.
Brian,
What brands, did you get? Are they fairly quite?
Thanks P
One box was labeled Magic Chef and the other 2 Vissani, all identical units. They now sell it as Vissani.
The reviews were OK but I have found them to far outperform the whining HD customers. The refrigerator in my kitchen is 4 times louder than the wine fridges. Actually the only time I remember hearing them run is when I am in my office just around the corner from the room where they are stored and the house is empty and quiet except for me. Even then they are not loud. Just know they are running for a couple minutes.
Listed as 50 bottles. Holds 51 plus a 375 under the control head/light. 5 8 bottle shelves and 2 6 bottle shelves. Two bottom shelves will not take a Burg without label damage. I use them for whites, rosés, basic cabs (non-bordeaux shape) The others have had bottles as large as old PAX and Turley.
http://t.homedepot.com/p/Vissani-50-Bottle-Wine-Cooler-MCWC50DST/100597196/
Note: I picked them up at the store and installed them myself. The apes that deliver for Home Depot regularly damage products so I made sure I did it all myself to avoid issues.
Use one of those wine bottle sleaves with the dry ice. I keep them in the freezer. When I take a bottle to a restaurant, I take it out of my wine freidge and slip it in to one of those, until the time I walk into the restaurant. Sometimes I pull the sleave out 15 or so minutes before I leave so it’s not too too cold. Simple trick, works all the time for me.
The small Koldfront models can get pretty cold. I think they’re sold at Lowes. I have a small one in my basement and the warmest setting keeps it in the mid-fifties.
Do you guys trust, or ever test, the accuracy of the thermometers in your coolers? I probably sound paranoid, but I keep a separate thermometer in mine that I check frequently, just in case it ever starts to go on the fritz.
I keep a indoor outdoor thermometer in mine. The display unit in one zone and the “outdoor” probe in the other zone. I find that the displayed temp of the cabinet thermostat fluctuates a lot but that the actual cooler temp/wine bottle temp is more consistent.
Here is an easy trick. Take a small thermometer and push the stem through a cork and into a wine bottle filled with water. Lay the butte in one of the slots of your cooler with the thermometer dial facing out. Always an easy indicator every time you pass the glass door.
Besides, it’s more accurate than monitoring air temp which will swing 5°-6° constantly between compressor cycles.
re: vissani: I also put a 375 on the left side of each 8 btl shelf.
I’d just like to find a fridge that can accommodate Pinot bottles. Any luck with this dilemma?