Wine Refrigerators

Wine 101: The Basics
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If there’s one piece of advice you should heed, DO NOT PURCHASE VINOTEMP: Vinotemp Customer Service Issues -- Help Please - WINE TALK - WineBerserkers

That thread should be a sticky on this forum.

I would add that most wine refrigerators are terrible buys, marketed toward consumers without much knowledge in the area. I’ve even recently seen a wine fridge “specially created for your reds”. I mean, really. These items are merely tiny, very cheaply built refrigerators with substandard cooler/compressors, and yet they’re priced like luxury goods. 'Cause, you know… wine. And unlike quality producers such as Le Cache and Eurocave, these units don’t have humidity controls nor is any attempt made to reduce vibration. They are, at best, an expensive means to keep your wine chilled to a certain temperature for service - certainly not a longterm storage solution for aging wines to maturity.

If you merely want to keep your wine chilled for service, I’d suggest purchasing a real refrigerator, perhaps even a used one from a good manufacturer, and hack the temp control: http://www.practicalhacks.com/2012/03/12/convert-a-standard-refrigerator-into-a-wine-refrigerator/ Less money, more storage space, better built in general with a more robust compressor.

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I have the LeCache Loft 1200 and can recommend it

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I have an inordinate amount of experience here so thought I would offer up advice for any of those who haven’t purchased or are on then fence. I have been through the Home Depot type units. Yes they are inexpensive, but absolutely NOT for long term storage. The amount of vibration these units have is like leaving your wine smack dab in the middle of the San Andreas Fault…

I was staring down the barrel of yet another Eurocave purchase. I already had filled three.

When people here, or anywhere for that matter tell you to buy more than you think you’ll need, do it!

Firstly, no “refrigerator” holds as many bottles as claimed. At 5k apiece I was worried that I would fill number four all too quickly as well.

I bit the bullet, and built a nearly 3000 bottle freestanding cellar in our carriage house. Got it for a song, and after selling off the Euros, I actually broke almost even. The cellar had everything but lighting, so I placed 4 led battery operated motion sensor lights from costco. Incredibly well insulated, and does a terrific job (until I fill it, then what?)

Oh another point- no matter what you build or buy, know that the efficiency of the unit is maximized when it is FULL. Same principal as your regular refrigerator / freezer.

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Can back up the don’t cheapskate it front. Good friend had a ~50 bottle vinotemp that crapped its self and ended up cooking about 2k in wine…

I got a similar $99 special as a gift that lasted less than a year then the compressor died. Have heard numerous other stories from others to know that this is not where you want to penny pinch. I picked up a used Eurocave with a busted compressor on CL for $200 and had it running good as new for a fraction of the price of new. Keep your eyes peeled and there are good deals to be had. Now if I can just find a 2nd one…

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Not true. The Visanni can hold up to 61, though they claim 50. It is dependent on which bottles you have and how they are placed.

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For this price range and capacity, any way to go cheaper without dropping way off in quality?

Larger capacity: http://m.costco.com/Wine-Enthusiast-|-Giant-300-bottle-|-Single-Zone-Free-Standing-|-Wine-Cellar.product.100131680.html

Smaller: http://m.costco.com/Wine-Enthusiast-|-Classic-166-bottle-|-Single-Zone-Free-Standing-|-Wine-Cellar.product.100131855.html

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I have the 300 bottle one. Been berry, berry good to me. Quality built. Bottle capacity is bottle size dependent and how many shelves you keep installed. Holds its temp well.

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anyone have experience with “WineKoolR”/“KoolR” products? i think they used to be vintage keeper. the price is certainly right…

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I think C Fu mentioned them in another post. I’ve certainly thought about getting one.

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I’ve had a Vintage Keeper (old branding for WineKoolR/KoolR) for 6 years now, had to replace the cooling unit once (1.5 years ago). It works for what it is, a cheap manufactured exterior with metal (I think the new units have wood?) shelves. I’m looking at adding a second or replacing my current one with the double unit. If you are anal about the cooling unit, you can get a squaretrade warranty (5 yrs for 250 on the double deep double wide unit-same cost as a replacement cooling unit), I wouldn’t expect a cooling unit to last 5 years.

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The company with the best reputation for customer service is Le Cache.
The company with the worst reputation for customer service is Vinotemp.

I’ve had a no frills Avanti for the last 18 years that just keeps chugging along. No idea if they are still of the same quality.

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LeCache is a great company. Top quality and customer service.

I highly recommend it.

JF

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for anyone wondering about the KoolR (f/k/a vintage keeper) products, i bought the 500 capacity one. the parts either don’t fit together as intended or the holes were mis-drilled. i can’t put the cabinet together. my small nyc apartment floor is covered in wine bottles. everywhere. 300 or so bottles. customer service has been a bit less than helpful, but it’s only been a day. at this point i’d take a full refund and pay a bit more for either the WE 300-btl or 2 WE 166-btls from Costco. so annoyed.

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Don’t mean to rub it in, but Costco delivers theirs right to your final spot, white glove service. pileon

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update on the KoolR/vintage keeper. for those who don’t know, this is basically an IKEA bookshelf type box with an AC unit in it. i used the rubber mallet to basically bend the plastic part into the holes it needed to go in. it didnt ever go in flat, but it’s in enough to hold the cabinet together.

it’s loud, but it’s not in my bedroom. it has needed a small container to catch excess drainage on days the NYC humidity crept in even with AC.

so… final verdict? if you want to be cheap, it does the job. we have 300 or so bottles and are wine newbies. probably 240 bottles of beer and 60 bottles of wine. a 500 bottle cooler would have been easily double the $1295 we paid for this. it caused us two weeks of sweat, blood, tears, and marital strife that only furniture building can invite. but we’re happy now. and our beer and wine is temperature controlled.

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[quote=“J. Schenck”]For this price range and capacity, any way to go cheaper without dropping way off in quality?

Larger capacity: http://m.costco.com/Wine-Enthusiast-|-Giant-300-bottle-|-Single-Zone-Free-Standing-|-Wine-Cellar.product.100131680.html


With a two year warranty…what do you do when it craps the bed in 4-5 years? It seems much more cost effective to build a wine room in the house if you’re a home owner. I can see this being a viable option if you’re a renter though.

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i live in a small 1 bedroom apartment in a third floor walk up :wink:

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What do you do when your refrigerator goes out? You call a repair man. [snort.gif]

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I just nabbed a EuroCave compact for $100 off of Craigslist. It is in good working order. It runs cool and quiet. I keep my house apartment in the low 70s more or less year long, so it should last a while,. THe price was right, even if It dies in a year or two, I can just move my cigar stock out of the Marine cooler and into this.

I am pretty new to the hobby. The size works well for me at the moment. But maybe in another year I will be ready to move up to something bigger.

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I have Avallon AWC540SZ 54-Bottle Single Zone Built-In Wine Cooler and I love it. This 54 bottle wine cooler from Avallon is definitely one for the serious wine collectors. A large capacity obviously means you’re planning on storing a large collection of wine bottles, but you get more than just large capacity with this cooler.

Featuring a contemporary design with stainless steel trimming, this cooler will fit in well with most interiors. An LED light which lights up your bottles through the clear glass adds some class to the room it’s located in.

A very powerful compression based cooling mechanism is enhanced some air circulation fans to chill your wines at 40-65F. I read great and informational reviews about it on http://www.winecoolery.com/best-built-in-wine-cooler-reviews/ and it was very helpful for my decision .

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