I’m moving into an apartment and will be needing to store my wines in a wine refrigerator.
I’ve winnowed down my bottle count to about 500.
I can either get one large or two side by side units and my searches here have shown that people like Le Cache and Artevino (Costco)
Are there any other reliable brands that people have used and can recommend?
Reliability is crucial.
Thanks
If reliability is crucial, don’t put all eggs in the same basket. Get 2 reliable units instead of a larger one to diversify risk
I can’t tell whether Artevino and Eurocave are synonymous or not - quick search shows ‘Artevino’ as a Eurocave model and as a separate (?) company. In any event, I’ve been very happy with my 2 Eurocave units. Each has a theoretical 264 bottle max - I’ve got them maxed our with just about 250 each.
Ppl seem to be happy with the ones from beverage factory, allavino?
I just got one of their 277 bottle units. I had another smaller one that died rather young at about 3 years old. I reached out to the Beverage Factory and they gave me a very good deal on the larger model. I think they are pretty nice units for the money, although I suspect just about all of these wine fridges are made with the same generic refrigeration parts, so getting one that will last is probably luck of the draw.
I’ve had a le cache for about 6 years that’s held up quite well.
Buy two large or four small units. As we have all learned time and time again, plan on twice as much space as you think you will need.
The info that I’ve been able to find is that Transtherm and Artevino are synonymous - both are built by a subsidiary of Eurocave. I have both a true Eurocave and a Transtherm branded as Eurocave. The Transtherm/Eurocave is fine but I prefer the Eurocave - in particular the shelving, which has better spacing, rolls better, and generally feels higher quality. The Eurocave is also truly silent while the Transtherm/Eurocave has a slight hum while cooling. If I buy another I will buy a true Eurocave.
Very true and wise advice - but at my age I am no longer buying I can safely say that is not a concern for me. I’ve sold off about half my collection with no plans to buy more other than daily drinkers which I keep in a separate smaller unit.
This is a very helpful user experience, thank you.
Evan - what floor is the apartment on and is weight an issue? 500 bottles is +/- 2,000 lbs. without the wine refrigerator.
I had the Costco Artvino 400 bottle model. Said it would hold 400 bottles. It doesn’t. That count is based on removing the shelves and packing it full. It really held closer to 300 depending on bottle shapes/sizes.
A small plastic part broke on the door hinge early on which necessitated that I lift the door up every time in order to close it.
Costco did offer white glove service and delivered it directly to where I wanted it in the house which was very helpful.
When we moved I sold it and bought 2, built in 100 bottle units from Fridgidaire. They are going on year 4 without any issues. Run very quiet and hold consistent temp. I have a small rack in a den closet for overflow. Always plan for more than you think you’ll need.
I’ve been going through this same dilemma as we recently moved, and I lost the wine room I had built. The number of bottles didn’t warrant building another cellar, so I’ve been looking at wine refrigerators. I ended up ordering 2 Allavino units with a combined capacity of 300+ bottles and am expecting delivery in the next week or so. The primary reason was price, both $ per bottle and total price. Even with adding a 5 year extended warranty, the cost was around half of other products I considered - Le Cache, Eurocave, Transtherm, and Artevino. The latter 3 were also less than ideal for me as I have a variety of wines in varying shapes and sizes, so stacking bottles to max out capacity wasn’t very practical.
I have an Artevino and happy with it. From what I know, it is made by Eurocave, but its a “cheaper” no frills line (no interior lights, alarms, older shelves, etc) and until recently was only available in the US through Costco - I believe Wine Enthusiast now sells them too. Mine says it holds 200 bottles, I have 186 in there and could probably squeeze another 6 if I really wanted to but there is stacking going on.
Going Berserker here by asking about something different than was requested.
Do you have some decent off-site storage options in your area? If so, a smaller, say, 100 bottle unit would suffice. It’s probably what I would look at first if I was wanting to store 500 bottles living in an apartment or condo.
Actually that is an interesting thought and that was my situation before I built a cellar in my current home.
I just wanted to say congratulations
Got a couple of Eurocaves to sell.
Andrew
This is exactly what I do. I live in a rather small apartment with two kids, so space for wine is limited. I have an offsite deal at a place not to far away for 500 bottles and then I have a fridge at home and some boxes at the floor in my cellar that keeps a decent temperature. So around 150 max at home.
The cost is on the high side, but it works very well.
I read this post differently than most did. I read ‘wine cellar’ as a proper, standalone cellar unit like LeCache, with a ‘cooling unit’ in it, and ‘wine refrigerator’ as, well, that, since both exist, i.e. the ‘wine refrigerators’ from Wine Enthusiast - they are not cooled/regulated with a cooling unit, rather use refrigerator technologies, basically.
I have both. One LeCache with a (just replaced) cooling unit and a Wine Enthusiast Wine Vault. I prefer the latter. Quieter, more efficient, fantastic seal. If I were you, I’d go that route.