Whether you are a wine enthusiast, love to have a few drinks a week, or have been collecting your favorite and precious wines for more than a decade, you need the best wine cellar in your house. We have listed some important aspects to determine which type of storage system you will need.
Why should you buy a wine cellar?
If you're leaning toward any of the wine cellars reviewed above, you've made an excellent choice. Remember, we've already done the legwork of sifting through the many wine refrigerator reviews available online in order to present you with the finest alternatives. Here is why you should consider buying a wine cellar rather than storing your precious beverages in ordinary refrigerators:
- Your wine cellar will provide the ideal atmosphere for storing your wine collection. This implies that the temperature, humidity, and stability will all be optimal.
- The wine cooler is more affordable, which means you won't have to break the money to get the most out of your wine. They are far less expensive than a normal refrigerator or cellar.
- They are meant to be low-maintenance. This implies that it is cheaper to run and uses less electricity.
- With various shapes and sizes, you're sure to discover the ideal design to complement your house.
- You may keep other beverages in these wine refrigerators without causing any harm to the beverages or the wine.
What's the difference between a wine cellar and a normal refrigerator?
Perhaps you're thinking right now: instead of purchasing the finest wine refrigerator ever, why can't you utilize the refrigerator you currently own? That is a reasonable question. Regrettably, the answer is you shouldn’t use an ordinary refrigerator, and here is why:
A typical refrigerator maintains a temperature of 32 to 40 degrees Fahrenheit for food and beverages. It is ideal for perishable milk and meat but not ideal for wine. It is preferable to maintain an optimal environment for your wines.
Throughout the day, your refrigerator is probably opened and closed numerous times. All of this activity generates vibrations and minor temperature fluctuations, which are detrimental to the wine.
Have you ever opened your refrigerator to get a smell of leftovers? These smells may permeate your wine bottles, imparting an unappealing flavor.
Your wine refrigerator is intended to maintain a constant humidity and temperature level, whereas your standard refrigerator is designed to cool your food and dehumidify it swiftly.
For which purpose are you looking for the wine cellars?
For casual drinkers
Perhaps you're someone who purchases a few bottles or perhaps a couple of cases of wine each week at your neighborhood wine shop. Your first objective should be to drink and appreciate your wine, not to age or collect it.
Even if you have a small collection of 20 or fewer bottles, keeping the wine from its deadliest enemies—heat and light—is critical to extracting the most flavor from each glass. A compact wine cooler helps maintain optimal temperatures, protects against UV rays, and can be placed almost anyplace in an apartment or house.
For miniature collections
Humidity, in addition to heat and light, is critical for corks to remain wet. If they begin to dry up, oxygen enters the wine, causing irreversible harm.
Other issues to consider with older collections are odor and vibration. Wine, on the other hand, is not very fond of being shaken or moved. Consider wine refrigerators with air filters to preserve your wine from oxidation and cooling systems that produce little to no additional vibration.
For the enthusiast
Perhaps you have a collection of expensive wines with well-known brands that you want everyone to see. For your precious collections, you'll want to ensure that your finest brands are prominently displayed and enhanced by excellent lighting.
Of course, you'll want to invest in a wine cooler/cellar that provides the best overall protection since you're likely to be maturing some of those wines for an extended period of time.
For an extremely precious collection
If you have a collection of 100–1,000 bottles or more, you may choose to store them entirely at home or at an off-site storage facility. You may have purchased some on your wine travels across the world or acquired others to preserve them for years.
This sort of vast collection carries sentimental as well as financial significance. You may design your own bespoke cellar with the assistance of a professional consultant or purchase a top-of-the-line version to protect your collection.
How should you choose the best wine cellars?
Look for temperature stability
Temperature uniformity is critical for storing wine as these can deteriorate if stored in an area with large temperature fluctuations.
The density of the wine determines the optimal temperature for storage. The optimal temperature range for sparkling wines, whites, and reds is 45 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit. While single-compartment cellars enable cold air to descend into the container to create distinct zones, many manufacturers are choosing separate compartments within the units to allow for temperature control of your wine.
Check the quality of racks
When completely extended, it should be noted how the coated-wire racks on one type rose swiftly and effortlessly out of the wooden-faced shelves. As is the case with a significant number of other top performers, the complete shelf unit may be readily removed to create storage sections for larger bottles.
The shelves on some chillers were not detachable and did not expand completely, but they come with oval holes and an extra plastic insert to secure and preserve the labels of larger bottles. Other chillers feature shelves with closely spaced slats, limiting capacity and allowing bottles to slide about, collide, and slant upward, obstructing the drawer opening.
Consider noise level
If the wine cooler is positioned near residential spaces, the noise level may be an issue. Whether the vibration level is undesirable is debatable; wine is a liquid, and each molecule moves far quicker than any motion provided by cellar vibration.
What qualities should you look for in a wine cooler?
UV-resistant glass doors
UV-resistant glass on the cooler doors helps to minimize the detrimental impacts of UV radiation. Ideally, you'll be able to locate your wine cooler away from direct sunlight, but if that isn't feasible, you really must get a cooler with this feature. While it is possible to purchase a wine cooler with a solid door, they are not as common as windowed ones.
Humidity controls
Exposing the wine to low levels of humidity for a lengthy period of time might cause the cork to dry up. This may enable air into the bottle, resulting in the spoilage of your wine. Humidity controls enable you to regulate the quantity of moisture in the air within the wine cooler, therefore preserving the cork's integrity.
Anti-vibration system
Certain versions incorporate an anti-vibration system inside the compressor, or occasionally into the cooler's construction, to minimize micro-vibrations and noise. This might be comforting for the committed wine fan since even micro-vibrations can have a detrimental influence on the color, flavor, and body of the wine over time.
Charcoal air filter
This filters the air that enters the cooler, avoiding unpleasant odors from impairing the flavor of your wine. Additionally, air filters might assist in reducing dust buildup within the wine cooler. They should be changed every 6-12 months.
Other features
Touch controls, digital displays, and smart features all contribute to the cooler's sleeker appearance and ease of use. Additionally, smartphone-compatible wine coolers are now available, allowing for remote temperature management.
Wine Cellar FAQ
Q: Why can wine cellars be so exorbitantly priced?
A: A good wine refrigerator is costly because it has sophisticated temperature control technology, properly constructed racks, UV-blocking glass, and humidity control devices. Many wine refrigerators are custom-built to fit into a cabinet area, which increases the price.
Q: How long should a wine be kept in the cellar?
A: You can use a wine cellar to keep your beverages fresh and maintain their flavor by maintaining the correct serving temperature of ready-to-drink wines. It is advised to store the wines for not more than 10 years.
Q: Are wine coolers a good investment?
A: A wine cooler is intended to protect your wine from external factors such as temperature variations and humidity fluctuations. Due to these characteristics, standard refrigerators are unsuitable for long-term wine preservation. If you want to ensure that your wine ages properly and tastes its best, it's worth investing in a wine cooler.