Is this cabinet worth a crap for the money? I need on for my new place since I won’t have a cellar. I’d like to keep 500 or so bottles at the house.
I don’t know what your budget might be for a cabinet, BUT if you can swing it, I would vote for a Le Cache. Absolutely love it and I’m very glad that’s the one I chose.
I had a Vinotemp for many years. It was a good unit and kept wine at temperature on even the hottest days in a Northern California garage for many years (until I sold it). Unless you are putting it in your living/dining room (which I would not do because of size/noise), you should get the cheapest, ugliest one you can find and stick it in your garage, basement, etc.
Best,
Andrew
I agree with Andrew but I would also make sure you get the heavy duty compressor and consider getting it top vented. I own two, one I bought from Vinotemp and the other I bought through Costco. The first one is about 7 years old and sits in my garage and keeps my wine at a steady 56 degrees. The second one (purchased through Costco) has racking that fits burgundy style bottles throughout instead of just the top two rows of racking. This is much more practical since I buy a fair amount of Burgundy, domestic pinot noir, and Chateauneuf du Pape.
I’ve had a 220-bottle Vinotemp in the house for almost ten years and it still works great. I would agree with getting a heavier-duty compressor (just to be sure) and the top-venting is something I wish I’d known about. Mine’s in a corner and I have to get up on a ladder and practically lay prostrate on the top of it to get a vacuum down to the top-rear vent to be sure it’s clean. Not a pretty picture, but clogged vents are the enemy of wine fridges.
Do be careful about the racking though. I could choose how I wanted mine configured - not sure Costco would let you do that. One advantage of higher priced units is the material the racking is made of. They may have upgrades but Vinotemp’s standard is redwood with flat metal supports that rip labels if you’re not careful or are trying to get Pinots in Burgundy spaces.
If you can put up with these things that keep the price down Vinotemp is a good value unit and I have several friends who’ve bought the basic, no frills, 500-bottle units for their garages. Everyone’s happy so far. Judging from the model you’re looking at, though, you want an indoor ‘furniture’ look, so that price is pretty good I think.
I bought my Vinotemp second hand over two years ago and it’s performed flawlessly. I have it in my garage where it sometimes reaches 90degrees in the summer. I’ve never seen a problem with it keeping temperature.
I think LeCache is a much better unit, I’d also consider a Vinotheque.
I might know someone with a used Eurocave, interested?
Chris,
I’d be interested but it would have to be in Southern California. How many bottles?
Not worth shipping to Cali, it’s in NY.
Phil - unless you will be on the coast in SoCal, forget about putting that in the garage. I’ve been running a Vinotemp two years (the basic ugly model) but with the upgraded cooler. At most it provides a 25 degree drop from the ambient temp. So if your garage gets to 95 in the summer, the best you can hope for is 70 inside the cooler - while it drives you energy bill through the roof.
Put it in an air conditioned part of the house, it’s much easier on the cooler and your energy bill.
BTW - make sure that it will fit through the door to the room you want it in. I had to disassemble mine to get it through the door and then re-assemble inside the room. It’s a pain, but doable if you know your way around a tool box.
Hello Phil, you are welcome to come to our showroom in southern california and you can touch and feel all of our varied units. If its hot where you live, like today in L.A. I would definetly encourage the upgraded cooling unit. We can provide you with more in depth detail and you can see our varied line from the economy garage units, to the high end furniture products.
Hope this helps. Address is 17621 S Susana Road Rancho Dominguez Ca 90221. We are off the 710 and 91 freeways.
Open Saturdays too. Are there questions I can help you answer, here on this forum?
India Hynes
Vinotemp
Thanks for the info India.
One question: If I buy the unit from COSTCO, what would it cost me to upgrade the cooling unit?
Cheers,
If it is going in the garage you should take a look at this Vinotemp at Costco: http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11004519&whse=BC&topnav=&browse=&lang=en-US
It already has the upgraded cooling unit, though it’s more basic looking and meant for garage or basement rather than living room display. I think it is the same one that Kent has. Costco has had it on sale for as low as $2,100 delivered. It’s a great deal at that price, imo. I looked at it and even visited Vinotemp when I was looking around a year or so ago. They were very good to work with and will even custom design something for you that is pretty reasonably priced. I ended up getting a great deal on a Eurocave that fit perfectly into a spot inside my house. I couldn’t find a space in my garage for the huge Vinotemp or I would have gone that way. Instead, I added an off-site locker (1 mile away) and that’s worked well for me. Good luck!
The 500E from Costco, has the upgraded cooling unit and the larger racking 3 3/4’s. The cooling unit is the 2500 HTD which is our newest version of Wine Mate (black casing). Costco is the best bet, because they have wonderful customer satisfaction.
That unit (link is above, also) has a VERY poor rating - why’s that?
To be fair (and I certainly have no dog in this hunt), it is only 1 rating. Funny thing is, when I was looking at this same Costco unit last year, I recall seeing at least 4 reviews (which were mixed, but more positive than the one here). I wonder what happened to those? I found reviews elsewhere (like the other board) that were generally positive and more in line with Ken’s experience. Come to think of it…one of those reviews was Ken’s!
I think we arent very good at explaining our varied lines. The E series, and especially with a 2500 HTD, is louder than the 1500. Also the wood used is an Economy wood, is not pretty. This is an economy unit for the garage, for function. Yes, its bang for the buck when storing that amount of wine, but certainly fails to show what we can do with our beautiful custom cabinetry that we have made for yachts, restaurants and custom homes. Also, we have small units that we import and because we make so many different things and offer so many different wine storage products, I see on the postings how they are all confused when they are discussed. You cannot compare a 99 dollar 12 bottle unit that we sell to Target to a 5000 dollar unit cabinet all hand made. We have sold thousands of these units, and it is a garage unit. The customer on this review talks about damage to the cabinet, which is a freight issue, which the freight company had to replace 3 times, which for sure stinks, for all of us.
If your unit is going into your home, display and in your living room… I would suggest these units, Wine Cabinets - Wine Storage – Vinotemp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Cherry woods, and details throughout that are un comparable to a Bang for the Buck unit.
don’t want to hi jack the thread but i have question…
india… i have purchased directly from you years ago and not sure which model is it. it has the two glass doors that holds 300+/- bottles. it might be E series? the problem i have is that racking on the bottom is collapsing…they are wood/metal type. anything i can do?
thanks
rick
Hey Rick no problem…This sounds like the unit has moved from the original location, could that be? When a unit is moved to another location and if its laid on its side, it will cause the rack to shift and if not properly re aligned, when the bottles re load, the metal will bend. Simple fix if its bent a little is to turn the whole rack upside down. But if its a bend now, this will cause a larger problem later. You do need to address this now.
I purchased a 500E from Costco 3 years ago and it has functioned flawlessly but it is loud. You do not want it in a room you will be occupying. We did for awhile and eventually moved it to the garage. Unloading 450 bottles and then reloading them is not my favorite way to spend half a day.
-Kain