Wine Fridge With Shelves That Hold Modern Bottles?

WINE TALK
1

I notice even my friend’s good wine fridges tend to have racks that scrape the labels with a lot of the more modern bottles. I feel like manufacturers are more concerned with advertising how many bottles you can stuff into their product rather than losing even one row of shelves so they can hold modern bottles without damaging the labels.

The fact is the old Bordeaux and Napa bottles are heading to extinction. I am not saying all bottles will be like Pahlmeyer or Turley but even those bottles just 1-2mm higher are struggling to fit. Having a great fridge is great but if when you open the shelf and the label is getting dinged then whats the point?

Is there any reliable maker that has addressed this and if so, who? Thanks.

2

The small “24-bottle” Vinotemp coolers I have show this problem. At best you rotate the bottles to avoid scraping. The “200 bottle” Artevino from Costco.com doesn’t have the label scraping problem. If anything, because the trays consist of spaced wood slats the problem is that larger bottles don’t always line up nicely side to side together to fill the space or create a level layer for stacking. But no label scraping issue there in my experience.

3

Got the same scuffing / scraping issue with my 36 bottle Danby units. [cry.gif]

4

By modern I take it you mean pretentious, heavy-weight bottles.

5

I faced this issue almost two years ago when picking out a new wine cooler. I took some broad-shouldered modern bottles to the appliance distributor, and the Sub-Zero unit was the only one that accommodated them well. I was also impressed with the materials - the “coating” on the racks is very label-friendly.

Note that I got the “full size” unit; I’m not sure if their under-counter units are the same bottle spacing.

6

I have the under-counter model 424 and I love it. No scraping issues, champagne bottles fit well on the bottom, and the build quality is superb as it should be for the price. Highly recommended.

7

If that’s what you think Huet is using, then yes. I guess I should stop buying wine from any winery using non-standard glass since they’re pretentious.

I’ve had this problem with a Eurocave. There are a lot of Champagnes that don’t fit, as well as many other things.

8

Ponsot bottles are a similar shape to Huet, maybe even a hair thicker diameter. Next time I drink either, I’ll remember to pop my collar and act snooty so I’m properly pretentious.

… or we could just buy JJ Prum from now on. No worries fitting them up to the manufacturer’s rated bottle capacity!

9

Let me know when JJ Prum comes out with a purple mouth staining syrah or a full bodied tannic cab !!

10

Yes.

11

Sub Zero… thats what I was afraid of. [shock.gif]

12

Haha, I guess I’ve been missing out on part of the fun of drinking these wines. Now I need to practice my condescending tone of voice.

13

There are very few bottles that won’t fit in the slots on my La Cache.