Hi folks
It seems like its been a while since there was a discussion about wine fridges...I'm currently in the market for something around the 200+ bottle capacity to replace the cellar I lost when we moved to a Melbourne apartment. Recommendations or general comments welcome.
Thanks in advance
Latest on Wine Fridges
Re: Latest on Wine Fridges
Honestly, this topic is covered every 6 months. Do a search in the top right hand side of the page. The last time this came up was about 3 months back, so the info will still be current.
never underestimate the predictability of stupidity
Re: Latest on Wine Fridges
Yeah, tried that before I posted- search gets a lot of posts about people taking wine out of the fridge etc etc but nothing of use to me...link to previous discussion anyone?
Re: Latest on Wine Fridges
Consensus seems to be that all brands have their issues, i.e not one single brand people would generally recommend. Speaking broadly, there seems to be two price points, the big premiums 2K/3K+ (Liebherr, Eurocave etc) which mostly work very well, but can still be prone to shoddy build quality and poor after sales service, and the smaller cheapies ($300+), which are smaller in capacity, but do the job OK at a much lower price. Maybe Kitchener and Vintec fit in the middle, the former seem OK for average climates, but for Q'ld etc can struggle over hot summers, and the latter had some issues with their finances a while back (so check after sales options) and my small one was chemical smelly so that put me off, although their service was quite good, and likely just a bad batch.
If I had your decision, I would find it very hard to decide. Look for a good warranty and after sales service just on the off chance things go wrong. I would seriously consider one small/medium unit and storing the rest in managed storage, especially if you intend to continue buying....they soon fill up!
Cheers
Tim
If I had your decision, I would find it very hard to decide. Look for a good warranty and after sales service just on the off chance things go wrong. I would seriously consider one small/medium unit and storing the rest in managed storage, especially if you intend to continue buying....they soon fill up!
Cheers
Tim
Re: Latest on Wine Fridges
Kitchener have some large format ones which seem to be reasonably priced for the amount of bottles you can store (170+) for around $1800. They have a good name, but am wondering if they are rebadging some other brands you see on Ebay as some look pretty similar. I've read a few issues with them but might take a punt on one once I get rid of my smaller Vintecs. But bear in mind how they stack and if you want one from the bottle of the pile it's a lengthy exercise. (will give a review of one when I get it)
http://www.kitchenerwinecabinets.com.au ... t.asp?ID=5
http://www.kitchenerwinecabinets.com.au ... t.asp?ID=8
The Ebay ones I'd be reluctant to splash out on for the simple fact there would be no after sales service on them (so unless they are very generic parts) it would be a nightmare getting them fixed if anything goes wrong with them (thermostats, displays, shelves etc)
Did you have a budget?
http://www.kitchenerwinecabinets.com.au ... t.asp?ID=5
http://www.kitchenerwinecabinets.com.au ... t.asp?ID=8
The Ebay ones I'd be reluctant to splash out on for the simple fact there would be no after sales service on them (so unless they are very generic parts) it would be a nightmare getting them fixed if anything goes wrong with them (thermostats, displays, shelves etc)
Did you have a budget?
Re: Latest on Wine Fridges
Hi
if you type in 'wine fridge advice' into the search engine its shows a few threads that i think will really help you. All brands are covered, with some particular call outs on teh failings of some.
I'd post the thread links here but i'm a bit technically challenged.
I actually posted one of the threads 'wine fridge - advice required' a few years ago, and ended up with a Vintec, i'm pretty happy with it, although from other reports there seems to be some luck involved.
Cheers
Michael
if you type in 'wine fridge advice' into the search engine its shows a few threads that i think will really help you. All brands are covered, with some particular call outs on teh failings of some.
I'd post the thread links here but i'm a bit technically challenged.
I actually posted one of the threads 'wine fridge - advice required' a few years ago, and ended up with a Vintec, i'm pretty happy with it, although from other reports there seems to be some luck involved.
Cheers
Michael
Re: Latest on Wine Fridges
Hi all ,
For what its worth, here is my $0.02 on the wine fridges that I own.
After seeing the number of fridges I have below, you'll understand why I am scratching my head wondering why I'm not building a 'proper' cellar.
FRIDGE REVIEWS
My fridges all live in the garage in Sydney. Obviously the ambient temperature of the garage goes up and down with the seasons. Most days during summer I found that the temperature is around 25-27 degrees. Obviously the ambient temperature is down during the winter months.
Vintec V30SGM - 30 bottle capacity (x2): These were bought a few years ago during a Penfolds deal where you got a Vintec fridge for $100 if you bought a case of Penfolds wine. I believe that they now RRP for over $500 which, in my opinion, is silly money for a 30 bottle fridge (but then again, I guess it depends what you're storing). Quality of the finishings and shelves are good. Temperature consistency is excellent - both are on 'red' temperatures at ~15 degrees and I have found very small variations, even on really hot days. I have heard some people complain about the temperature variation for Vintec's on hotter days - I would guess the smaller fridges maintain temperature better in these smaller models since the cooling mechanism is cooling a smaller volume than larger fridges. That said, I'm no engineer. In any event, they're still going strong and performing well.
LG W81BXG - 80 - 120 bottle capacity: You see a few of these fridges on sale from time-to-time. They have been discontinued, with LG now producing smaller fridges. This fridge is a dual-zone fridge which fits 80 bottles with all shelves intact, and up to 120 with minimal shelves. I've got 120 bottles of my 2-3 year cellaring wine in there because (as I'll go on to explain) this is what I'd call an "inside" wine fridge. The fridge itself is nicely built, with a glass door, internal LED lights, digital display and polished metal finish. Quite attractive. In terms of performance, I am not blown away. The temperature fluctuates around 3 degrees per day, although a lot less (+/- 1 degree) during cooler days. This leads me to think that its cooling mechanism doesn't cope that well with higher or fluctuating ambient temperatures, and so I'd put this fridge down as a fridge that is designed - and will work well - if stored indoors (such as in the kitchen) where it is cool. For this reason, it will soon be relocated to one of the spare bedrooms downstairs - its an "indoor" fridge. Great for climate controlled apartments, I'd suggest.
Kitchener Peltier - 240 bottle capacity: This is a single zone wine fridge, white on the outside, with rubber-coated metal shelves and a solid white door. It has so far stored 240 bottles (with space for a few more) comfortably. If the LG is an "indoor" fridge which was designed to look like the princess that you'd want to see in your modern Smeg kitchen, the Kitchener is the ugly dragon which you'd prefer to be locked in the garage. It is what its advertised to be - an industrial, heavy duty bulk storage wine fridge which is designed to withstand Australian conditions. And that it does. During the hottest days this summer, it has maintained the 15 degrees that its set at (+/- 1 degree at most). Recently a heat sink chip blew (this helps the fridge regulate temperature) and so the temperature went up to 17 degrees for a few days - I'll be getting that replaced soon. I'm absolutely happy with it, and am pretty confident that my wines are being stored for in that fridge are being well looked after. I also highly recommend Kitchener's after-warranty service (a bit expensive on parts, but they're very responsive and happy to help). Would I pay $3.5k for a new one? For the price I would consider other options (3rd party wine storage facilities, building a wine cellar) myself, but I would if I needed to store my wines at home in a wine fridge, and the fridge was going to be exposed to an Australian summer environment, then I can't see you going wrong with the Kitchener.
Transtherm Ermitage - 150 bottle: This is a dual zone wine fridge with sliding wooden shelves designed to fit 12 bottles per shelf, and no more. It has a solid black front door, although I believe that glass doored models are available. This is not as 'industrial' as the Kitchener, but seems to have coped just as well over the Australian summer. It has remained rock sold on 14.4 to 14.9 degrees throughout this time, and I have nothing bad to say about this fridge. The shelves do seem a bit flimsy in the event that you wanted to double stack them, but I'm happy keeping my 'good' wines in here with 12 bottles to a shelf to prevent rubbing of labels. In terms of price, I got this one second hand a while ago at a very low price, but against would consider 3rd party wine storage facilities or building a proper wine cellar if I was about to fork out the $4,000 RRP for this model. Once again, I suppose it boils down to what you're storing in the fridge (a fridge full of first growth Bordeaux and Grange probably more than justifies the cost of the fridge). Its a tough call to decide which fridge I prefer between this and the Kitchener. They are different beasts.
FRIDGE DO'S AND DON'TS
Once again I'm not expert, but here are three do's and don'ts that I have learned (sometimes the hard way) when it comes to wine fridges:
1. Do buy a decent wine fridge from a reputable manufacturer. You get what you pay for seems to be especially true when it comes to wine fridges. Always keep in mind that the ambient temperature surrounding your fridge will more often than not impact on the way that it performs, so don't get sold based only on reviews coming out of the UK, for example. I'm also a big believer in spending a bit more on a 'proven' fridge with a better warranty and properly serviced warranty department, because there can be nothing worse than sitting with a 13 month old wine fridge that just came out of warranty that starts playing up.
2. Don't over stack your fridge. It leads to broken shelves, damage to labels and it makes it impossible to access the wines on the bottom row without bottles falling everywhere.
3. Don't unpack your entire wine fridge during hot, humid Australian summer days. You'll find that condensation quickly forms on your chilled (8 degrees white, 14-15 degrees red) bottles and will saturate the labels, causing them to warp and even fall off. When repacking the fridge, the labels are easily damaged when wet. If you need to unpack your fridge, wait until the ambient temperature is down.
ALTERNATIVES TO FRIDGES
If you're in the market for a new (i.e. RRP $3k+) wine fridge, consider storage alternatives. Third party wine storage facilities can run as low as $3.50 per month, per case ($42 per year) if storing 120 bottles or less. This price goes down if you store more. So if you are considering a $3,000 wine fridge which holds 240 wine bottles, consider whether a 3rd party storage facility is more cost effective.
Also, if you have the luxury of space, $3,000 would go a some way towards building a decent cellar under your house if you have the know how and the time/patience.
Hope this helps. Its entirely possible that I'm off the mark with my comments above, so I stand to be corrected. That said, this has been my experience.
LM
For what its worth, here is my $0.02 on the wine fridges that I own.
After seeing the number of fridges I have below, you'll understand why I am scratching my head wondering why I'm not building a 'proper' cellar.
FRIDGE REVIEWS
My fridges all live in the garage in Sydney. Obviously the ambient temperature of the garage goes up and down with the seasons. Most days during summer I found that the temperature is around 25-27 degrees. Obviously the ambient temperature is down during the winter months.
Vintec V30SGM - 30 bottle capacity (x2): These were bought a few years ago during a Penfolds deal where you got a Vintec fridge for $100 if you bought a case of Penfolds wine. I believe that they now RRP for over $500 which, in my opinion, is silly money for a 30 bottle fridge (but then again, I guess it depends what you're storing). Quality of the finishings and shelves are good. Temperature consistency is excellent - both are on 'red' temperatures at ~15 degrees and I have found very small variations, even on really hot days. I have heard some people complain about the temperature variation for Vintec's on hotter days - I would guess the smaller fridges maintain temperature better in these smaller models since the cooling mechanism is cooling a smaller volume than larger fridges. That said, I'm no engineer. In any event, they're still going strong and performing well.
LG W81BXG - 80 - 120 bottle capacity: You see a few of these fridges on sale from time-to-time. They have been discontinued, with LG now producing smaller fridges. This fridge is a dual-zone fridge which fits 80 bottles with all shelves intact, and up to 120 with minimal shelves. I've got 120 bottles of my 2-3 year cellaring wine in there because (as I'll go on to explain) this is what I'd call an "inside" wine fridge. The fridge itself is nicely built, with a glass door, internal LED lights, digital display and polished metal finish. Quite attractive. In terms of performance, I am not blown away. The temperature fluctuates around 3 degrees per day, although a lot less (+/- 1 degree) during cooler days. This leads me to think that its cooling mechanism doesn't cope that well with higher or fluctuating ambient temperatures, and so I'd put this fridge down as a fridge that is designed - and will work well - if stored indoors (such as in the kitchen) where it is cool. For this reason, it will soon be relocated to one of the spare bedrooms downstairs - its an "indoor" fridge. Great for climate controlled apartments, I'd suggest.
Kitchener Peltier - 240 bottle capacity: This is a single zone wine fridge, white on the outside, with rubber-coated metal shelves and a solid white door. It has so far stored 240 bottles (with space for a few more) comfortably. If the LG is an "indoor" fridge which was designed to look like the princess that you'd want to see in your modern Smeg kitchen, the Kitchener is the ugly dragon which you'd prefer to be locked in the garage. It is what its advertised to be - an industrial, heavy duty bulk storage wine fridge which is designed to withstand Australian conditions. And that it does. During the hottest days this summer, it has maintained the 15 degrees that its set at (+/- 1 degree at most). Recently a heat sink chip blew (this helps the fridge regulate temperature) and so the temperature went up to 17 degrees for a few days - I'll be getting that replaced soon. I'm absolutely happy with it, and am pretty confident that my wines are being stored for in that fridge are being well looked after. I also highly recommend Kitchener's after-warranty service (a bit expensive on parts, but they're very responsive and happy to help). Would I pay $3.5k for a new one? For the price I would consider other options (3rd party wine storage facilities, building a wine cellar) myself, but I would if I needed to store my wines at home in a wine fridge, and the fridge was going to be exposed to an Australian summer environment, then I can't see you going wrong with the Kitchener.
Transtherm Ermitage - 150 bottle: This is a dual zone wine fridge with sliding wooden shelves designed to fit 12 bottles per shelf, and no more. It has a solid black front door, although I believe that glass doored models are available. This is not as 'industrial' as the Kitchener, but seems to have coped just as well over the Australian summer. It has remained rock sold on 14.4 to 14.9 degrees throughout this time, and I have nothing bad to say about this fridge. The shelves do seem a bit flimsy in the event that you wanted to double stack them, but I'm happy keeping my 'good' wines in here with 12 bottles to a shelf to prevent rubbing of labels. In terms of price, I got this one second hand a while ago at a very low price, but against would consider 3rd party wine storage facilities or building a proper wine cellar if I was about to fork out the $4,000 RRP for this model. Once again, I suppose it boils down to what you're storing in the fridge (a fridge full of first growth Bordeaux and Grange probably more than justifies the cost of the fridge). Its a tough call to decide which fridge I prefer between this and the Kitchener. They are different beasts.
FRIDGE DO'S AND DON'TS
Once again I'm not expert, but here are three do's and don'ts that I have learned (sometimes the hard way) when it comes to wine fridges:
1. Do buy a decent wine fridge from a reputable manufacturer. You get what you pay for seems to be especially true when it comes to wine fridges. Always keep in mind that the ambient temperature surrounding your fridge will more often than not impact on the way that it performs, so don't get sold based only on reviews coming out of the UK, for example. I'm also a big believer in spending a bit more on a 'proven' fridge with a better warranty and properly serviced warranty department, because there can be nothing worse than sitting with a 13 month old wine fridge that just came out of warranty that starts playing up.
2. Don't over stack your fridge. It leads to broken shelves, damage to labels and it makes it impossible to access the wines on the bottom row without bottles falling everywhere.
3. Don't unpack your entire wine fridge during hot, humid Australian summer days. You'll find that condensation quickly forms on your chilled (8 degrees white, 14-15 degrees red) bottles and will saturate the labels, causing them to warp and even fall off. When repacking the fridge, the labels are easily damaged when wet. If you need to unpack your fridge, wait until the ambient temperature is down.
ALTERNATIVES TO FRIDGES
If you're in the market for a new (i.e. RRP $3k+) wine fridge, consider storage alternatives. Third party wine storage facilities can run as low as $3.50 per month, per case ($42 per year) if storing 120 bottles or less. This price goes down if you store more. So if you are considering a $3,000 wine fridge which holds 240 wine bottles, consider whether a 3rd party storage facility is more cost effective.
Also, if you have the luxury of space, $3,000 would go a some way towards building a decent cellar under your house if you have the know how and the time/patience.
Hope this helps. Its entirely possible that I'm off the mark with my comments above, so I stand to be corrected. That said, this has been my experience.
LM
Re: Latest on Wine Fridges
I just would like to add some other info on an Autralian manufacturer who seems to have disappeared.
Quaff wine cabinets are no longer - they apparently got hit by the floods last year. I have 2 of them which I bought via Ebay but was some excess stock they were getting rid of a few years back so really a direct arrangement.
Their website is gone and any emails advertised all bounce.
The 2 I have work perfectly - the only thing now is I can't get any charcoal filters for them anymore. Has held the temperature perfectly in a single zone arrangement.
Quaff wine cabinets are no longer - they apparently got hit by the floods last year. I have 2 of them which I bought via Ebay but was some excess stock they were getting rid of a few years back so really a direct arrangement.
Their website is gone and any emails advertised all bounce.
The 2 I have work perfectly - the only thing now is I can't get any charcoal filters for them anymore. Has held the temperature perfectly in a single zone arrangement.