Wine can be a very tricky beverage to refrigerate properly. It’s understandable if you don’t want it stored in your main refrigerator because some types need to be at a specific temperature for best results. This can affect your other food items in the fridge and you don’t want that.
This is precisely why (if you love to store wine) it would be smart for you to invest in a wine cooler as they allow you to give special treatment to your wine. There are a lot of great models, but here are the best built-in versions.
Best Value: Avanti Thermoelectric Wine Cooler
Next up is another great choice if you’re limited on space and it’s from the Avanti line. This is a great option because it’s the perfect wine cooler for your small kitchen, as it sits right on your countertop.
This cooler holds 8 bottles, so it’s pretty good-sized for such a small unit. It’s got a sleek design so it will look great, to boot.
This particular brand of wine coolers is especially nice because it is able to cool to lower temperatures and it’s quite stable in warmer temperatures as well.
This is because the Avanti brand makes their wine coolers with a compressor, and therefore handles the cooling rather than the thermoelectric coolers.
This means that your wine cooler is going to be more energy efficient and subsequently more economical in the long run.
The downside to this cooler is that it is a bit “noisier” to run than say a thermoelectric wine cooler. Also, some reviews have noted that things tend to go wrong just short of the one-year warranty expiration, at about 13 months into ownership.
All in all, if you’re looking for a sleek and sophisticated wine cooler, especially if you live in a small home or apartment unit, this is one for you.
Second Best: Koldfront Free-Standing Dual
Number four on the list a free-standing wine cooler by Koldfront. This wine cooler is fantastic if you’re looking for a bigger unit.
This particular wine cooler has two separate compartments that allow you to store both your red and white wines, keeping them both at the best temperature for storage.
This unit uses thermoelectric cooling, and you can control each zone with an easy-to-use LCD display panel. This unit holds 24 bottles of wine.
This unit has a very consistent refrigeration system and therefore maintains the temperatures in each zone quite consistently. It is a quiet unit, producing an unnoticeable sound. It looks like a quality appliance and will fit in well within your home, no matter the decor.
There are a couple of downsides to this product. You must open the door at 180 degrees in order to remove the racks.
Also, the lowest temperature for cooling is only 46 degrees, which means you’ll want to place your white wine in the fridge before serving.
Third Place: Wine Enthusiast Touchscreen
Our next choice is a great cooler from the brand Wine Enthusiast. This is another great option for those that are looking for a fantastic wine cooler.
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This wine cooler holds 12 bottles, so this is definitely an option for those that don’t have a lot of room or many bottles of wine to store.
This is a single-zone cooling unit. The control panel on the outside of the unit is quite simple and only comes with a button to turn on the lights, and two arrows. It has a blue digital display pad.
This unit allows you to switch between Fahrenheit and Celsius when setting your temperatures. The wire racks easily pull out to allow you faster access to your wine.
The downside to this unit is that the buttons seem to beep loudly when you’re using the control panel, and, just like the wine cooler we reviewed above, does not fit the larger bottles, so you would have to remove the racks and place the bottle in diagonally. However, another great cooler to consider, especially if you have limited space in your home or apartment.
Alternative: Antarctic Star 18 Bottle Wine Cooler
The Wine Enthusiast Touchscreen is temporarily unavailable, but this one is a great alternative. The Antarctic Star 18 Bottle Wine Cooler allows you to store your wine in optimal conditions for long-term aging. It also enables you to customize the temperature with a range of 40°F- 61°F.
Fourth Place: Haier Dual Zone Wine Cellar
The last wine cooler we’ll review is a dual-zone wine cellar by Haier. This is a great choice and it’s another dual zone cooling unit, meaning it will put your white and red wines at the necessary temperatures.
This wine cooler has a cooling system that is free from vibration and very quiet, which is a plus in our books.
This particular wine cooling unit’s top compartment can go from temperatures that are 46 degrees all the way up to 66 degrees, and the bottom compartment goes from 54 degrees to 66 degrees, all in Fahrenheit.
You are able to control the temperatures using the LED touchscreen, which will display the temperatures in bright numbers. It’s a decent size unit, so it should fit perfectly inside an average home.
A couple of issues to note: First, some reviews note that the unit has arrived not working, but that can be attributed to shipping issues.
Second, some say that after 13 months of use (just after the 12-month warranty expired, the unit stopped working. But, again, this is a great unit and if you’re looking for a good-sized and quite wine cellar cooling unit, this may be the one for you.
Fifth Place: Kalamera 15″ Refrigerator
Kicking off this list is the 15” Wine Refrigerator from Kalamera. At one given time, this cooler can hold up to 30 bottles of wine. When inside, the clever design prevents it from ever going bad.
First off, there is a temperature memory function. If the power ever goes out, when the cooler gets turned back on it remembers what the last temperature was.
Secondly, the glass door is made of a stainless steel frame and perfectly stabilizes the temperature. When looking through it, you also don’t have to worry about fog building up on the glass.
The decision is also yours on how you would like to install it. It can easily be installed under a counter or can be used as a freestanding unit.
You have heard the good, but it’s now time for the bad. This is advertised as holding 30 bottles of wine at once, but good luck achieving that!
Unfortunately, the structuring of the interior makes it nearly impossible to place a lot of wine bottles inside. Also, the shelves are not incredibly sturdy, are fairly difficult to slide in and out, and are way too close together.
Don’t be fooled, this will not hold 30 bottles of wine.
Sixth Place: AKDY Electric Wine Cooler
Let’s turn to a wine cooler that can hold a little more wine: The AKDY Electric Wine Cooler. Instead of 30 (which again is not very feasible with the cooler from Kalamera), this cooler can hold 33 bottles.
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Much like the Kalamera, the design is very sleek and it can be installed under a counter. On the face of the cooler, there is a touch panel that can be used to change the temperature.
Inside (for both allure and visibility) there is a blue LED light that illuminates your wine collection. You also may take pleasure in knowing this is an eco-friendly machine (thanks to the no ozone-depleting chemicals used).
Once again, there are some issues present with this wine cooler. For whatever reason, it’s taller than its advertisement label (clocking in at around 32 inches tall). This is not so much an issue, but a clarification. However, the true issue is with the temperature.
The displayed temperature on the outside of the unit is not the actual temperature inside the unit. The problem is it’s measured from the center rack. It ends up being around four to five degrees off. Clearly, this is a design flaw and one that should have been addressed.
Alternative: KUPPET Compressor Freestanding Wine Cooler
The AKDY Electric Wine Cooler is temporarily unavailable, but this one is a great alternative. With KUPPET’s accurate precision compressor cooling technology, you can perfect chill and store red, white wine, and other wines.
Seventh Place: EdgeStar Dual Zone
As the list continues, the wine coolers continue to get bigger and better. This time it’s the Dual-Zone Wine Cooler from EdgeStar. As the name so eloquently alludes to, there are two doors.
This allows the capacity to climb up to 32 bottles at once and they can be placed on the stainless steel-trimmed, wooden shelves. However, don’t think that this increase of size means you can’t install it under one of your counters because you can.
If you don’t want to, though, you can stand it up by itself. Each door on the cooler has black dot matrix tempered glass, stainless steel handles, and locks. Due to their design, they also protect your wine from harsh light and UV rays.
There are not too many issues with the EdgeStar Dual Zone Wine Cooler. With that being said, there are a few things you should be aware of. One, the interior light is not the best.
It’s really only good at being a mood light, but not at displaying your collection. Secondly, there is no lock on the control panel. This is more of an issue if you have small children, as they can accidentally adjust the temperature without you knowing.
Eight Place: NewAir Wine Cooler
On the quest to get bigger and better, it ends with the NewAir Wine Cooler (depending on what size you get). There are several options available, ranging from 12 bottles to 33 bottles.
The cool part about this is if you aren’t a huge wine collector you can invest in the versions with less capacity (saving money). Outside of the variety, many of the same great features of the prior wine coolers are present.
This includes interior LED lighting, a compact design that allows it to be stored under counters (as long as you give it four inches of clearance) and a heavy-duty glass door that is insulated for maximum wine protection.
The biggest issue with the NewAir Wine Cooler is more of a warning. You are on a need to know basis and you need to know this. The coldest setting that the temperature can be set at is 54 degrees.
If you know your wines, you know this presents an issue with certain types. For example, sweeter wines and dessert-type wines should be chilled at a temperature lower than 54. For dry white wines, this is an adequate temperature and won’t present an issue for you.
Last But Not Least: Whynter Built-In
Capping off this list is a wine cooler that is ideal for lightweights. Not really, but just having some fun there! Anyway, the Whynter Wine Cooler can hold up to 18 bottles of wine (750 mL each).
Due to the ventilation coming from the front, this can be stored under any of your counters (much like the other models). The compressor used to cool your wines offers temperatures from the high 30’s to mid-60’s (Fahrenheit), while the exterior features a stainless steel door and handle. As you can see, you can store many variants of wine in this cooler.
Unfortunately, Whynter may have designed the wine cooler with the biggest issue of them all. What could be so bad to say this? Simply put, when this machine is in operation you will know it is. Around every two minutes, you will hear a whining sound from the cooler.
Even if you are in a different room, you will most likely hear it. It’s extremely distracting to use this in your house. A suggestion (as everything else about this cooler is very good) is to store it in your garage. People may not always see it, but if it’s in your house the noise will drive you up a wall.
The Choice is Yours and You Have a Lot of Work to Do to Decide
To narrow it down, it’s always good to weigh the negatives against each other. Figure out which downsides bother you the most and eliminate the corresponding model. Just know, that every single option on this list is a worthwhile investment. So, you really can’t screw your decision up!
