If you’re a big wine fan, but don’t have the space for a wine cellar, a wine refrigerator might be the answer to your prayers. They come in various sizes and designs to complement the style of your home, and most have adjustable temperature settings for storing different types of wine.
Wine refrigerators do more than just chill the wine. Humidity must also be controlled so that mold doesn’t form on the bottles, and many models will also minimize vibrations in order to keep the wine in top condition. And let’s not forget that a wine refrigerator also presents the wine attractively and keeps it dust-free, ready for serving.
Various sizes of wine refrigerator are available. The smallest versions are counter-top and will do just fine if you only want to store a few bottles, or you’re really short on space.
Larger models quickly go up in price: A 28-bottle Avanti model is available from just 120 USD, but a 75-bottle Danby will set you back at least 700 USD — so make sure you know how much storage you’ll need in advance. Take some comfort in the fact that you’ll probably store several hundred bottles in your wine refrigerator over the course of its life, and the cost per bottle stored is therefore extremely low. Think of it as an extra dollar on the price of each bottle that guarantees you’ll still enjoy the wine at its best, even years down the line.
Digital temperature readouts are all the rage in wine refrigerators these days, and you can also expect to pay a premium for fancy tinted-glass fronts and touch-sensitive controls. You should at least make sure that the appliance you choose is Energy Star compliant, since wine refrigerators tend to run continuously over many years and can therefore take a hefty toll on the power bills.