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Wine Refrigerator


jesteinf

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I'm thinking about buying a wine refrigerator to install in a custom cabinet I'm having built for our dining room. Before going out and purchasing one, I'd like some thoughts from others on any particular brands/models I should be focusing on.

Some considerations:

- Ideally I'd like to buy a model with a width of 15 inches

- The dining room is right off to the living room, so the quieter the better

- Price isn't a huge factor

- The front should be able to accommodate a custom overlay

-Josh

Now blogging at http://jesteinf.wordpress.com/

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I have a Eurocare 260 that is close to 10 years old. I can report good things about the brand and would not hesitate to recommend it, if they have a size suitable for you.

The other thing I can tell you is that there is never enough space for all the wine you will want to store so the bigger the better.

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The other thing I can tell you is that there is never enough space for all the wine you will want to store so the bigger the better.

SO true! my 25-bottle Dalby is routinely stuffed with an extra bottle or two - or more!

i love it and it's served me well for 5 or 6 years. no idea whether they make 15-inch ones (mine's 20") - worth checking out online. it was not very expensive either

Alcohol is a misunderstood vitamin.

P.G. Wodehouse

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We have a GE Monogram, too, and it's worked well for the last 5 years. Like others have said, there's never enough room. Our model's shelves aren't able to be pulled out, which I don't like, but I think we're able to get more bottles in this way.

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  • 11 years later...

We have a Eurocave - we must have gotten it at least 10 years ago... still works perfectly.  Ours holds like 240 bottles - and we have the version with a solid door - we actually paid a bit extra to get it clad with hardwood -  after it came in, I stained it and oiled it so it looks like an armoire in the middle of our living room.  And it's super quiet - you never hear it.

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@Franci I have a Magic Chef:

http://amzn.com/B00IID3OZE

 

Quite pleased with it.  Of course what I got it for was chocolate.  There are some bottles in there but they are for ballast.

 

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Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

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5 hours ago, Franci said:

Bringing this up. Any update on wine refrigerator, 12 years after this post? I need to buy one

Questions:

What capacity (current + anticipated future purchases) would you like?

Free-standing or under-counter?

Any size constraints?

Maximum price (if any)?

"There is no sincerer love than the love of food."  -George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman, Act 1

 

"Imagine all the food you have eaten in your life and consider that you are simply some of that food, rearranged."  -Max Tegmark, physicist

 

Gene Weingarten, writing in the Washington Post about online news stories and the accompanying readers' comments: "I basically like 'comments,' though they can seem a little jarring: spit-flecked rants that are appended to a product that at least tries for a measure of objectivity and dignity. It's as though when you order a sirloin steak, it comes with a side of maggots."

 

"...in the mid-’90s when the internet was coming...there was a tendency to assume that when all the world’s knowledge comes online, everyone will flock to it. It turns out that if you give everyone access to the Library of Congress, what they do is watch videos on TikTok."  -Neil Stephenson, author, in The Atlantic

 

"In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual." -Galileo Galilei, physicist and astronomer

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We recent purchased a second GE Monogram wine cooler

 

our first one is under counter.  The new one was left free standing    Quiet and holds temp well.  Although they look basicly the same the new one doesn’t hold fat bottles as well. There is a small difference in the distance between shelves 

 

 

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DCFAA0EC-BA10-40C0-AA68-3562BD40E398.png

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11 hours ago, Alex said:

Questions:

What capacity (current + anticipated future purchases) would you like?

Free-standing or under-counter?

Any size constraints?

Maximum price (if any)?

 

All good questions. For now we are renting,  so something free standing and on the small size, as Mitch mentioned 4 cases max I would guess a good approximation. It’s going to go right where the wine cases are resting at the moment, right at the end of the kitchen island. Price? Mmmmhh, it’s the husband who is really interested, don’t know how much is willing to spend. I am going to collect all your suggestions and pass to him. 

 

 

443154F7-5B56-4B8C-BD7A-E096868DF41D.jpeg

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That's good information, Franci. Here are my thoughts, then. FWIW, we currently have five coolers in our wine cellar (aka our basement), not counting the two dead ones out back. 

 

It  sounds like you plan to move in the not-too-distant future, so not-too-big and not-too-expensive would be the way to go for now, I think.

 

And it looks like an awkward space, so you probably wouldn't want anything too large or intrusive. And just from an aestheic standpoint, putting a wine fridge against the short end of the island doesn't feel right. Could you put a relatively narrow one in front of the outlet we see in the picture?


One choice for you to make is the cooling system: thermoelectric or compressor. Thermoelectric is lighter; puts out a bit less heat; is usually, but not always, quieter; and usually, but not always, costs less to run. They're pretty much all made in China. Compressor units, especially the aforementioned GE and other higher-end brands like Marvel (we have one of each) tend to be sturdier and more reliable. A Google search will provide lots of links about this. In addition to the two compressor units, we also have two 32-bottle Cuisinart thermoelectric coolers, which are no longer being made, plus the first one we ever bought, a two-door Vinotemp, one side of which recently died. (The two dead ones out back are both thermoelectric.)

 

So if I were in your shoes, my feet probably would hurt. I also would opt for a narrow (18 or 21 bottle capacity) and less expensive thermoelectric unit from Bed Bath & Beyond and their ubiquitous 20%-off coupons. If you do decide to go bigger and better, you might want to check out this used GE fridge near Pompano Beach. If it works well and isn't noisy, I'd offer $400 and settle for $450. 

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"There is no sincerer love than the love of food."  -George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman, Act 1

 

"Imagine all the food you have eaten in your life and consider that you are simply some of that food, rearranged."  -Max Tegmark, physicist

 

Gene Weingarten, writing in the Washington Post about online news stories and the accompanying readers' comments: "I basically like 'comments,' though they can seem a little jarring: spit-flecked rants that are appended to a product that at least tries for a measure of objectivity and dignity. It's as though when you order a sirloin steak, it comes with a side of maggots."

 

"...in the mid-’90s when the internet was coming...there was a tendency to assume that when all the world’s knowledge comes online, everyone will flock to it. It turns out that if you give everyone access to the Library of Congress, what they do is watch videos on TikTok."  -Neil Stephenson, author, in The Atlantic

 

"In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual." -Galileo Galilei, physicist and astronomer

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