Wine Cabinet Buying Guide
Add a touch of class to your kitchen with a stylish wine cabinet from Appliance House. We offer a wide range of wine coolers in both free standing and built-in models.
Our Wine Cabinet Buying Guide is a must read for anyone who is searching for a new wine cooler for their kitchen. It is full of useful advice about the difference between single, dual and triple zone wine coolers plus.
We discuss all the best features to look for to ensure you buy a wine cooler to suit your needs perfectly, and it's full of tips on the best wine accessories to buy to take you wine drinking experience to a whole new level!
Wine Coolers & Kaelo - Single Zone, Dual Zone & Triple Zone.
What is a wine cooler?
A wine cooler is essentially a specialist wine cabinet that allows you to store your favourite wine in optimum storage conditions.
Storing wine in a regular fridge is far from ideal as they do not take into consideration five factors that are essential for preserving wine quality; consistent temperature, no odours, minimal vibration, blocking out UV light and providing perfect humidity levels.
How do wine coolers preserve the quality of your wine?
If you enjoy wine and always have a few bottles in storage at home then a wine cooler would be a great investment for you. Wine coolers are designed to simulate wine cellar conditions to help preserve the quality and characteristics of your wine.
How your wine is stored, effects how your wine will taste when it is poured. All your favourite wine can be stored in one place in conditions that are perfect for them;
- Constant Temperature; A wine cooler will maintain a consistent temperature in the cavity. It is even possible to store white and red wine together in perfect conditions in a dual zone wine cabinet.
- Vibration; Vibration will disturb the wines sediment balance. Most wine coolers are engineered with anti-vibration gaskets and low vibration compressors to ensure vibration is reduced to an absolute minimum.
- Humidity And Odours; Wine coolers create the right atmosphere and humidity levels to prevent mould and odours in the cavity. Any odours inside the cavity have the potential to penetrate into the cork, tainting the flavour of the wine in storage. Humidity levels inside wine coolers should be between 55% and 75% to preserve cork quality and stop it drying out.
- No UV Light; It is important that wine bottles are not exposed to sunlight or fluorescent light as it will prematurely age the wine, causing it to spoil. Most wine coolers include a UV protected glass door, to prevent the UV light from penetrating the glass. Lights inside wine coolers should be considered too, LED lights are fine as they are UV-free and have no heat output.
Where is it best to position a wine cooler?
Wine can spoil due to exposure to light, it is therefore important to place your wine cooler away from direct sunlight.
It is also wise to place your wine cooler away from warm appliances such as dishwashers or ovens as they omit heat when in operation, causing the wine cooler to work harder.
What is the best temperature to serve white, red and rose wine?
A wine cooler allows you to store wine at just the right serving temperature to ensure your wine always tastes its best.
Ideal serving temperatures for wine varies depending on the type of wine being stored. Sommeliers recommend the following serving temperatures;
- 5-6°C - Sweet Wines
- 7-10°C – Dry White Wine
- 9-10°C – Rose Wine
- 11-13°C – Light Reds
- 16-19°C – Red Wines
What Is A Single Zone, Dual Zone & Triple Zone Wine Coooler?
A dual zone wine fridge essentially has two independently controlled temperature zones enabling you to store and display bottles of red and white in the same appliance. Your collection will be stored at the perfect temperature for serving and storing; white wine will be beautifully chilled and reds will be stored at warmer temperatures, ready to enjoy.
If you only buy red or white, a single zone wine cooler would be ideal as one temperature is consistent throughout.
You’ll also find triple zone wine coolers that provide temperature zones for storing red, white and sparkling varieties perfectly. Champagne, for example, should be served a little cooler than white wine so, if you love champagne and have the space, a triple zone wine cabinet is a great choice.
Can you store beer in a wine fridge?
You most certainly can! On a limited number of wine coolers you can replace some of the wooden shelving with glass shelves. Always check the model is compatible as not all wine coolers can be adapted.
Wine cooler glass shelves can be purchased as an extra, allowing you to store canned beers and beverages along with your favourite wine, in a perfectly chilled environment.
What is a Kaelo?
Kaelo is a counter top wine chiller that uses special cooling technology to keep a bottle of opened wine at the perfect serving temperature for up to two hours. This dry cooling method ensures bottles remain dry and drip free.
A Kaelo is installed into a work surface, complimenting a wine cooler perfectly. Wine coolers will store your favourite wine at the right temperature while Kaelo serves it right.
Kaelo will maintain the original temperature of the bottle so the first sip tastes as good as the last!
How much does a wine cooler cost?
Prices of wine coolers vary significantly. Prices start around £250 for the smallest built in models and up to £5000 for larger, triple zone wine coolers. You’ll pay more for multiple zone models and built in wine coolers are also generally more expensive than freestanding models.
Here is a rough indication of what you can expect to pay for different width wine coolers available on the market;
- £250 - £350; Slimline, 145mm Wide wine coolers
- £400 - £600; 295mm Wide wine coolers
- £600 - £1000; 595mm Wide wine coolers
- £1500 - £5000; 595mm Wide triple zone (tall) wine coolers.
Free Standing Wine Coolers
Freestanding wine coolers, as the name suggests, stand on their own, away from other appliances. They are a popular choice for use in large kitchens, if space allows, as it provides flexibility as you can place it anywhere you like!
Freestanding wine coolers must be placed with sufficient space around them to allow heat from the appliance to circulate efficiently. Manufacturers recommend one side should be open and free at all times plus a minimum of 100mm of space should be allocated around the top, back and other side of the appliance.
Models include freestanding full height wine coolers and freestanding under-counter wine coolers.
Tall height wine cabinets often feature triple stacked temperature zones and provide plenty of storage space, some models can even store over 130 Bordeux style wine bottles!
Freestanding under-counter wine coolers are smaller providing roughly enough capacity for around 39 Bordeux Style Bottles. All sides are finished to a presentable standard meaning freestanding under counter models can stand alone within your kitchen or be housed under a counter top.
Built In Wine Coolers
Also known as an integrated wine cooler a built in wine cooler creates a stylish look in your kitchen. Built in wine coolers are designed to be installed alongside your kitchen units;
- In Column Wine Coolers - Housed within a tall housing unit, no need to bend to open the door!
- Built In/Built Under Wine Coolers - Installed alongside kitchen base units.
Best Wine Cooler Features To Look Out For.
Exposure to light, low humidity, variations in storage temperatures and vibration can cause damage to wine. Most wine coolers include features to ensure wine is stored exactly as it should be.
- Charcoal Air Filter; Charcoal filters eradicate odours and impurities in the air. Filtering the air that enters the cooler prevents odours penetrating the cork and affecting the taste of your wine.
- Wooden Shelving; Wooden shelves are preferable to wire racks as they are non- scratch and will help to keep bottles and labels in immaculate condition. Also, wood also naturally absorbs vibrations, which will help to retain the sediments natural balance.Wooden slatted shelves hold wine bottles securely and can be pulled out easily allowing you to choose your next bottle with ease! Storing wine bottles on their side allows wine to stay in contact with the cork. Keeping the cork moist is important as it helps to prevent oxidation which can result in the wine ageing.
- UV Resistant Glass Doors; It is important to store wine away from direct sunlight. Most wine coolers feature a glass door to create a feature of the appliance. It is important to buy a wine cooler than has a UV resistant glass door. The protective glass will stop any UV rays penetrating through and damaging your wine.
- UV/Heat Free LED Lighting; Wine coolers should, as standard, use internal LEDs that are UV free with no heat output. Exposing bottles to fluorescent or natural light will make wine age prematurely.
- Reversible Doors; Many wine cooler models give you the option to change the handling of the door to provide greater installation flexibility.
- Anti-Vibration Gaskets; Look for vibration free wine coolers. Vibrations can cause an adverse effect on a wines flavour so search for a wine cooler featuring anti vibration gaskets or similar technology that eliminate vibrations and disturbance within the fridge.
- Cooling Systems; Some wine coolers use thermo electric technology. This type of cooling technology will cool to 15°C below room temperature and therefore does not maintain a precise, consistent temperature as it relies on the ambient temperature of the room to determine the internal temperature. Generally, thermos electric wine coolers can only get down to 10°C which is not ideal for sweet wines and sparkling varieties. Compressor cooling wine cabinets control temperatures with much more precision and are capable of getting down to lower temperatures. They are much less affected by the external temperature and will only click into action when necessary, making them an energy efficient option. The majority of modern built in wine coolers are built with a compressor cooler.
- Temperature and Door Alarm; If you accidentally leave the door open or the temperature drops below the desired setting an audible alarm will sound to alert you.
Kaelo – The Integrated Countertop Wine Cooler.
Kaelo is a smart kitchen accessory. Built into a worksurface, Kaelo is designed with a dry-cold bottle chamber that sinks beneath the worktop. Within this chamber, unique cooling technology insulates an open bottle, maintaining its original temperature for a couple of hours.
To enjoy wine at its best, it should be drunk at a particular temperature. We list all these temperatures within our FAQ section above. For example, dry white wine is best served between 7-10°C. A wine cooler stores the wine at optimal temperature. A Kaelo will serve drinks at their optimal temperature.
Once a chilled drink is opened, pop the bottle in the Kaelo, set it to your desired temperature and it will maintain the perfect temperature for you so every sip is as lovely as the first.
The energy efficient Kaelo is a superb addition to any stylish home bar, kitchen or hotel.
Wine Accessories - Aerators, Corkscrews & More...
Choose the right wine accessories will enhance your drinking experience in so many ways. With simple steps you can enjoy wine with more flavour and aroma then ever before and with the right accessories wine will remain fresh and can be stored for longer.
Our Wine Accessory Buying Guide is a quick read, packed with information about must-have wine essentials including corkscrews, foil cutters, wine preservers, aerators and more!
We answer FAQs including; 'What is a Wine Saver?' and 'Is it best to decant wine?' We even reveal how to enjoy tasty wine (as fresh as the day it was opened!) up to 10 days after opening the bottle!
Why Shop With Us?
If you have any questions about our wine cooler collection please give us a call us on 0330 002 0229, we'd be happy to talk through the best options for you.
As well as providing an excellent, knowledgeable and friendly service, we also offer various deals on our wine coolers: