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With adjustable shelving, accurate temperatures, and a sleek design, this wine fridge fits into any situation and will keep your wine at an optimal temperature. Read More
The Vinotemp provides great temperature precision and a unique design that lets you show off your wine bottles. Read More
This is a sturdy wine fridge with reliable shelving and good storage capacity. Read More
A solid under-the-counter wine fridge with good storage capacity, but like other wine fridges in this price range, its temperatures ran a few degrees warmer than its setting. Read More
We love the NewAir for its interior details including easy-to-use wood shelves and LED lighting, but we weren't as impressed with its exterior build. Read More
Whether you're aging bottles in a wine cellar, want easy kitchen access, or only have space in the corner of a small apartment, a wine fridge is a great way to chill, store, and protect your favorite reds and whites (and rosés and sparklings, too). But deciding which cooler to purchase can be just as tricky as creating the perfect pairing.
Top connoisseurs, sommeliers, and high-end restaurants often gravitate to brands like EuroCave to keep their bottles at ideal aging and serving temperatures, spending thousands of dollars for precise temperature and humidity controls. Fortunately, for average oenophiles, there are more affordable options. Sacrificing on price may mean these fridges are never quite perfect, however, your bottles will still stay in an optimal temperature range, be well-protected, and will fit into any living space.
We extensively tested wine refrigerators in Reviewed’s labs. We recorded temperatures and assessed build quality and storage capacity. We found that the wine refrigerator is the Wine Enthusiast 32-Bottle Dual-Zone MAX Compressor Wine Cooler (available at Wine Enthusiast) . However, if you're more finicky about serving and storing wine temperatures, the Vinotemp 42-Bottle Touchscreen Wine Cooler (available at Amazon) offers better temperature precision and a unique interior design.
The Wine Enthusiast 32-Bottle Dual-Zone MAX is the best wine fridge we tested.
The Vinotemp 42-Bottle Touchscreen Wine Cooler is a great choice for those who want temperature precision.
Wide temperature setting
Accurate temperatures
Lock
Shelving needs support while extended
Great sturdy build
Good storage capacity
Industrial look and feel
Temperature runs a few degrees warm
Reversible front door
Great shelving
Good storage
Temperatures run warm
Wood shelves
Good lighting
Includes lock
Not sturdy
Temperatures ran warm.
The Vinotemp and Wine Enthusiast wine refrigerators rose to the top of our list after testing for temperature, capacity and build.
Hi! I'm Alicia Cypress, former managing editor at Reviewed. But my true passion is wine. I'm WSET (Wine and Spirits Educational Trust) certified, which means I've formally studied the subject, and when I'm not focused on my day job, I keep up with wine industry trends. As an apartment-dwelling wine collector, I rely on a separate fridge to ensure my bottles stay in tip-top condition.
Reviewed’s former Senior Scientist Julia MacDougall, who oversaw all of Reviewed’s home appliance testing, devised the testing for this guide. She was also responsible for evaluating the fridges and coolers from a temperature and build perspective, using her years of experience evaluating refrigerators.
We tested up to four fridges at a time in our refrigerator lab.
After unpacking and installing each appliance, we set the temperature in each and then let them run and calibrate for more than 24 hours prior to further testing. This is similar to the way we test regular refrigerators. This gives the coolant time to circulate and helps ensure each product is working properly.
For dual-zone fridges, we set the two zones to either 60°F and 55°F or 55°F and 50°F, depending on the temperature limits in each unit. For single-zone fridges, we set the temperature to 55°F.
To measure the temperature inside the bottles, we placed wireless temperature sensors in tiny plastic baggies, suspended them inside screwtop Chardonnay bottles, and placed four bottles at four different locations inside each cooler.
After three days, we pulled the temperature data from the bottles. We used the information to assess each fridge’s temperature accuracy (ability to hit a specific temperature) and temperature consistency (ability to maintain similar temperatures throughout the fridge cavity).
During our testing, a temperature probe was lowered into wine bottles with screw-top closures to measure wine temperatures.
If a cooler is both accurate and consistent, then wine temperatures throughout the entire cavity should be close to the temperature setting, and stay that way as long as the appliance is running.
Consistency is important. Without it, the overall average temperature may match the target, or the temperature may be right in certain places. But the fridge could have extreme temperature swings, or some parts of the fridge cavity may vary wildly from the temperature in other parts.
We also assessed each unit with respect to user-focused criteria such as ease of use, build quality, and wine bottle capacity.
The first thing to know is you'll always need something with more capacity than you think. If you’re considering a small 12-bottle countertop model, go for one that holds 18. Considering a 24-bottle model? Odds are that once you’re using it you'll wish you bought the 32-bottle version or beyond.
For budding collectors, a too-small wine fridge is a common, almost inevitable frustration. Most fridges are available in multiple sizes. For this guide, we chose models to test based on which provided the greatest value, as prices will fluctuate depending on size. If a model appeals to you, but it's not in the size you want, check the retailer for more options.
Wine bottle shapes can vary depending on what kind of wine is inside.
When a manufacturer claims a cellar can hold a set number of bottles, that's usually based on storing all same-sized bottles (usually Bordeaux-syle bottles). So a 32-bottle fridge may actually hold less if you—like many vino lovers—have a wine collection of different styles and producers.
While a standard bottle holds 750 milliliters of liquid, bottle shapes and sizes vary greatly. In some cases, it's traditional for wines made from specific grapes or certain regions to be bottled in specific-shaped bottles. It’s sometimes even required by a country or region's laws. The next region over may stipulate something completely different.
A Bordeaux bottle has high, structured shoulders, while a Burgundy bottle has a longer neck with softer shoulders and a rounder midsection. Riesling bottles have even longer necks and are taller and more slender. Champagne bottles may be similar to Burgundy bottles, but have a slightly wider base and thicker glass used to protect it from exploding. That glass thickness will matter if shelves are too close together.
In our testing, we purposely tested storage capacity with a random assortment of 750-milliliter bottles. We found coolers with adjustable shelving and removable racks are generally more helpful to fit different-sized bottles. It also makes it easier to store Magnums or other large-format bottles.
Most of the appliances we evaluated include compressor technology. This technology is recommended for midsize units because it can cool down quickly and maintain a wide temperature range. The fridge also won't be impacted by the room temperature. Thermoelectric wine coolers may be more energy-efficient, but the external temperature of the room can influence how cold the fridge will get.
In my early wine-buying experience, I thought having dual temperature zones would be smart, so I could keep my white wines a little cooler than my red wines. As time went on, I wound up setting both sides of my 48-bottle cooler to the same temperature. I later upgraded to a 92-bottle refrigerable with a single zone, and haven’t missed the second zone.
You may not need two zones, but dual-zone fridges can be helpful based on your priorities. THey can help keep some bottles at a perfect serving temperature while keeping others at a more consistent aging temperature for long-term storage.
Location is the key factor here. If you're installing it under a cabinet in your kitchen or bar area, a built-in model is best. These models will have ventilation systems in front (usually at the bottom of the unit), so that the warm air it emits doesn't get trapped and heat up the unit. Look for coolers where you can configure the door to open from either side, so you can customize it to your space.
Freestanding coolers are great for those who plan to place them in a basement cellar, living room, office, bedroom (no judgment!), or anywhere else! The ventilation areas will often be found on the sides or the back. Be careful to leave several inches of space around the side with the vent, and don’t push it directly against a wall.
Still not sure? Fortunately, many built-in models can also be used as freestanding fridges. The format won't impact the cooling systems, it's mostly an aesthetic choice.
Alicia Cypress oversaw Reviewed's "The Best Right Now" product guides. She’s a veteran journalist, spending her career before Reviewed at The Washington Post and NPR. In her free time, she studies and writes about wine.
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