The Auswine Forum

I've found the compressor models do not keep good humidity (I have both versions of the Dome fridges). My compressor one keeps it around 30% humidity, which is too low for corks, ok for screwcaps. The Thermo one keeps it solid around 60%.

I have a pair of Mountbase 28 btl coolers and a Prima 72 btl, all thermoelectric. The Prima seems to work hard in summer in NQ but the temp readout usually only reads 1 degree higher, occasionally 2. The upper shelves don't seem to be as cool as the lower shelves so I try to place the better wines in the latter. Bought the Prima on eBay and the specs there didn't mention, as does the handbook, that it's meant for 25C ambient temp and not recommended for 30C+.

The Mountbase units are excellent - possibly from the same factory as the Domes so many here mention. They're both set to near minimum temp and any bottles removed are always quite cool, often with a patina of condensation. They were $270 each (discounted 10%) from my nearby barn which was then a Hedley Liquor Superstore, now 1st Choice. Being older models, they don't have LED temp readouts.

One problem common to all is that burgundy style bottles don't really fit in the racks but at least they're flexible enough (chromed steel) to spread those bottles around enough (with some reversed) to shoehorn a fair few in. The problem's compounded by the apparent increasing use by wineries of these bottle styles for shiraz and chardonnay, though I don't have much of the latter. I also found that the Prima wouldn't accomodate a (long) bottle of Filsell 05 in one of the lower racks, presumably due to
a bulge in the rear lining for the thermoelectic unit.

I wouldn't store wine for more than a couple of months or so in a compressor type wine fridge/cooler.

Cheers

daz

Use wine fridges for short term storage only... they work well, and the non-compressor types don't vibrate.. but you can ONLY every get that constant temperature and humidity from underground storage. I use my 24 bottle fridge as short term storage and I top it up from my off site storage provider (at 0.80c/case/month they are cheap if you get a good one.) Humidity is almost as important as constant temperature with corked wines...

If you have $3000 of wine in a wine fridge, and go away for summer holidays... and a circuit blows in your power box/ safety switch goes off, requiring a reset... or you have a notorious Australian summer blackout... or the door doesn't close... or...

even Euro Caves have their problems... get it underground!

Reds89 wrote:Use wine fridges for short term storage only... they work well, and the non-compressor types don't vibrate.. but you can ONLY every get that constant temperature and humidity from underground storage. I use my 24 bottle fridge as short term storage and I top it up from my off site storage provider (at 0.80c/case/month they are cheap if you get a good one.) Humidity is almost as important as constant temperature with corked wines...

If you have $3000 of wine in a wine fridge, and go away for summer holidays... and a circuit blows in your power box/ safety switch goes off, requiring a reset... or you have a notorious Australian summer blackout... or the door doesn't close... or...

even Euro Caves have their problems... get it underground!

Are you offering to tunnel into the rock that underlies the whole of my small block of land?

I don't know of any commercial offsite storage facilities anywhere that have underground storage and there certainly isn't any climate controlled offsite wine storage facility where I live. You sure that your offsite facility has backup generators that work and are regularly tested? Those generators btw vibrate like all ****.

Got any other bright ideas that don't cost at least $50,000?

Yes. Tunnel into the bedrock below your home.

Or... talk to a wine friend, a winery worker, or google it. I'm sure there must be a stable wine storage site somewhere near you...unless you're in Alice Springs? My web searches found wine storage in every city (except the Alice) and three cities with underground wine storage - these were the cheapest.

Reds89 wrote:Yes. Tunnel into the bedrock below your home.

Or... talk to a wine friend, a winery worker, or google it. I'm sure there must be a stable wine storage site somewhere near you...unless you're in Alice Springs? My web searches found wine storage in every city (except the Alice) and three cities with underground wine storage - these were the cheapest.

Thanks for your suggestions.

There's plenty of self-storage but no climate-controlled storage of the type you use and think may be available here in Townsville. As for tunnelling into the bedrock under the house perhaps you have some engineering suggestions - there's barely room to swing a nail hammer under almost all of it and I'm only about 160cm in height but can't stand upright under any part of it.

My wine coolers are fine by me for the quantity and value of the wine I need to store.

Cheers

daz

I have 4 different types of cooling for my wines. I think the Kitchener probably does the best job, holds 250 bottles and almost never goes during winter (I have it at 18 degrees so I can actually drink some of my Wendouree's before I die). The down side for the kitchener is finding obscure bottles.
I have a little 42 bottle Target job that cost almost nothing, does alright but vibrates a bit and has a 4 degree variance between the top shelf and the bottom - it also lets a bit of light in. I only put wine in here that I'm going to drink over the next 12 months.
The next thing I had was 2 big packing case wardrobes that I lined with 4" foam and even in a CQ summer would keep the ambient temp to about 27 degrees which is too hot but a lot cooler than the 40 degree garage where they were stored. I don't use these now because there's not much room left in my garage...because the other day I bought a second hand cold room 5x6x7 feet.
I am about to organise a small airconditioning unit on it to keep it at about 15 degrees. I dug this out of a garage - its about 40 years old but even without the ac unit it keeps a constant temp of 17 degrees in the garage. It also only cost a couple of hundred bucks and holds about 120 dozen bottles. It is also dark. So if you've got the room, it may be a cheaper and more viable option to a cellar.

I also have the Kitchener but it is the 430 bottles model. I have a little over 300 bottles in it worth over 10k and as my collection expands I expect I will purchase another.
I am very impressed with the "fridge" as the temperature varies little. It is set at 15 degrees. In summer it has risen to 16 degrees according to a max - min thermometer I have permanently inside. The fridge is in my garage.
I use MS Excel to help keep track of the individual bottle's location by identifying each shelf alphabetically, and numbering bottle locations front and back.
Oh yeah, I have no commercial interest etc.

in case i miss any points here but is the dome unit an energy sucker? Because choice had them rating at 600kwper year.

Picked up a Dome 24 Bott this morning for $80 @ local Target.
Its the thermoelectric one.
At this price prepared to give it a go!

Dave's Prima 72 Bottle Fridge Review

Got my fridge delivered today for $349+$30del. Came well packed, with about 50 bits of sticky tape holding various shelves, doors, filters. The unit is about 1.1M tall and looks quite good.

It has 3 fans at the back at various heights, with a basic removable netting filter on each outlet outside. The unit is fairly noisy but not too bad but it is working at the moment getting up to correct temps. Comes with a 2m power cable with a normal plug on it, not a flat headed one which is always handy on large appliances, although the manual says you should have at least 10cm behind the unit.

The racking is metal and quite scratchy on labels so no putting good bottles you are wont to get out and show friends as the labels won’t last. If you put a Burgundy size bottle on one shelf you are flexing the shelf above so you cannot put another Burgundy above it and have some trouble getting a Bordeaux bottle there. Each shelf holds 6 bottles and there are 12 shelves. You can probably only have half bottles below the light. Top shelf will hold a Magnum at each side – just. Shelves slide out, but won’t as the bottles are pretty well wedged in there so it’s a bottle at a time to get them out. The front door looks insulated but somewhat hollow but it shuts with a good seal.

The light is a LED one operated by a switch on the door, with a nice beep when you hit the button. It’s not too bright but would suffice in a dark room (not sure how it would go in a full fridge)

Temp Control – The display on the front shows the temp inside the unit at the present time. You then select what temp you want it to go to, it will then revert back to what it really is inside. I’ve only had it running for about 2 hours with some bottles in it, and will slowly add more. I stuck my portable Temp/Humidty gauge in there...the humidity was 46% when it started and is slowly creeping up (now 56%). But it remains to be seen how it will cope. The temp control range is 10-18C so probably not suited for getting your whites ready for serving. I would hazard a guess and say it would probably only do -10C than ambient so probably wouldn’t be suited for the really hot regions.

The price is the winner for me. I can get 2 of them for the price of a 30 bottle Vintec and have 140bottles of my short term cellaring wines in there. It’s not a Kitchener/Vintec/Vinocave but it is a better option that the wardrobe/staircase for a lot of people.

Specs
•72 bottle capacity (180L)
•10-18 degree Celsius level cooling system that's easy to operate
•Soft interior switch-on lighting
•Leveling legs for support
•Magnetic door seal to ensure air-tight freshness
•Easy to use and set up
•11 chrome storage racks
•Circulating fan
•Cooling With Thermoelectric Module
•Low Noise
•Stable Humidity
•Attractive door handle for easy access
PRODUCT SPECIFICATIONS:
•Model: PWC72
•Volume: 180 litres
•Rate Voltage AC: 220-240V
•Input power: 185W
•Rated frequency: 50Hz
•Power consumption KW:h/24h: 2.8(15 degrees celsius)
•Temperature control range: 10-18 degrees celsius
•Net Weight: 43kg
•Gross Weight: 45kg
•Unit Size (WxHxD): 570x1195x512mm

Handle is inside unit.


Front Display


Idea of height of it.


Door Open - no light

Comprehensive post Davo! Looks good right now. Look forward to the update.

cheers

Carl

dave vino wrote:Dave's Prima 72 Bottle Fridge Review

Got my fridge delivered today for $349+$30del. Came well packed, with about 50 bits of sticky tape holding various shelves, doors, filters. The unit is about 1.1M tall and looks quite good.

It has 3 fans at the back at various heights, with a basic removable netting filter on each outlet outside. The unit is fairly noisy but not too bad but it is working at the moment getting up to correct temps. Comes with a 2m power cable with a normal plug on it, not a flat headed one which is always handy on large appliances, although the manual says you should have at least 10cm behind the unit.

The racking is metal and quite scratchy on labels so no putting good bottles you are wont to get out and show friends as the labels won’t last. If you put a Burgundy size bottle on one shelf you are flexing the shelf above so you cannot put another Burgundy above it and have some trouble getting a Bordeaux bottle there. Each shelf holds 6 bottles and there are 12 shelves. You can probably only have half bottles below the light. Top shelf will hold a Magnum at each side – just. Shelves slide out, but won’t as the bottles are pretty well wedged in there so it’s a bottle at a time to get them out. The front door looks insulated but somewhat hollow but it shuts with a good seal.

The light is a LED one operated by a switch on the door, with a nice beep when you hit the button. It’s not too bright but would suffice in a dark room (not sure how it would go in a full fridge)

Temp Control – The display on the front shows the temp inside the unit at the present time. You then select what temp you want it to go to, it will then revert back to what it really is inside. I’ve only had it running for about 2 hours with some bottles in it, and will slowly add more. I stuck my portable Temp/Humidty gauge in there...the humidity was 46% when it started and is slowly creeping up (now 56%). But it remains to be seen how it will cope. The temp control range is 10-18C so probably not suited for getting your whites ready for serving. I would hazard a guess and say it would probably only do -10C than ambient so probably wouldn’t be suited for the really hot regions.

The price is the winner for me. I can get 2 of them for the price of a 30 bottle Vintec and have 140bottles of my short term cellaring wines in there. It’s not a Kitchener/Vintec/Vinocave but it is a better option that the wardrobe/staircase for a lot of people.

Specs
•72 bottle capacity (180L)
•10-18 degree Celsius level cooling system that's easy to operate
•Soft interior switch-on lighting
•Leveling legs for support
•Magnetic door seal to ensure air-tight freshness
•Easy to use and set up
•11 chrome storage racks
•Circulating fan
•Cooling With Thermoelectric Module
•Low Noise
•Stable Humidity
•Attractive door handle for easy access
PRODUCT SPECIFICATIONS:
•Model: PWC72
•Volume: 180 litres
•Rate Voltage AC: 220-240V
•Input power: 185W
•Rated frequency: 50Hz
•Power consumption KW:h/24h: 2.8(15 degrees celsius)
•Temperature control range: 10-18 degrees celsius
•Net Weight: 43kg
•Gross Weight: 45kg
•Unit Size (WxHxD): 570x1195x512mm

Handle is inside unit.


Front Display


Idea of height of it.


Door Open - no light

Bought one of these on eBay for $400+ incl freight (forget exact $s) but freight was higher to NQ than $30.

It's set at 13C now (previously 14C during summer) and seems to handle the lower temp without problem in winter. In summer, from the fans' noise, it seemed to work hard to maintain 14-15C but considering the handbook recommends max ambient temp of 25C (that spec wasn't in the advert on eBay) the unit does well to maintain 15C in 30C+ humid weather. I loosely wedge one of the flat styrofoam sheets from the packaging against the handle to reduce light entering the untinted glass panel and to give it a measure of insulation.

Good idea to place magnums on the top rack as the upper racks don't seem to be as cool as the lower, that's why I've set it at 13C. My 28 btl Mountbase units have the same problem with burgundy-style bottles so I soon learned to try to place them so they slide in on the side between the front and back labels. All of them seem to fit the burg btls better by reversing some, i.e. base to the door. I've also found that at least one of the racks on the lower right side won't allow the door to close with longer longer bottles such as Filsell 05 placed there.

Cheers

daz

Got mine last week. Great addition to the Kitchener. Will be interesting to see how it handles a Brisbane summer.
Couldn't see how a magnum would fit.

I have been at the Queensland Wine Show all week.

Trophy day tomorrow followed by the announcement at the dinner at night. Entries up again this year.

I am trying to get the results posted on the website this year. Will post a link when it occurs.

GrahamB wrote:Got mine last week. Great addition to the Kitchener. Will be interesting to see how it handles a Brisbane summer.
Couldn't see how a magnum would fit.

I have been at the Queensland Wine Show all week.

Trophy day tomorrow followed by the announcement at the dinner at night. Entries up again this year.

I am trying to get the results posted on the website this year. Will post a link when it occurs.

I'm looking forward to seeing the results from the show, Graham. Thanks!

I too was wondering how a magnum could be jammed in the top shelf of a Prima 72btl cooler. Definitely couldn't happen with a champagne or burgundy style bottle

Cheers

daz

LOL guess which one was the one I pulled out yesterday to test it. So I grabbed a different one tonight...and no they don't fit unless you don't mind the door being left open.

Does anybody know who the maker of the Prima units are, my searches have not given me much apart from online sale. Problem being I live in Clare SA and the $30 freight you are talking would be clsoer to $100, if I could buy in Adelaide it would be much cheaper.

Many thanks.

richie32 wrote:Does anybody know who the maker of the Prima units are, my searches have not given me much apart from online sale. Problem being I live in Clare SA and the $30 freight you are talking would be clsoer to $100, if I could buy in Adelaide it would be much cheaper.

Many thanks.

I'm 99% sure it's made in China. Just about, if not actually, the only Australian made thermoelectric wine cooler is Kitchener. I think the freight for the one I bought on eBay was in the order of $100, perhaps more - just can't remember but the total cost was, I think, about $450.

Cheers

daz

Yep made in China, the model is PWC72 there is nothing in the manual about it's whereabouts.

richie32 wrote:Does anybody know who the maker of the Prima units are, my searches have not given me much apart from online sale. Problem being I live in Clare SA and the $30 freight you are talking would be clsoer to $100, if I could buy in Adelaide it would be much cheaper.

Many thanks.

I bought mine from Dinosaur Deals for $349.95. Freight to Brisbane was $44. If you get more than one item, you pay full freight on the most expensive item and the second item is half price. We paid $66 to freight two units. Freight to Clare is $105.45 for the first item.

Some show results from Brisbane. Waiting for the results to go on a website.

Thanks to Tony Harper for typing these up.

Best Sparkling Wine - Hardy's Sir James Tumbarumba 2001
Best Current Vintage Dry White Wine - Heggies Riesling 2008
Best One Year Old Dry White Wine and Best Chardonnay of Show - Houghton Pemberton Chardonnay 2007 (a fabulous wine!)
Best Dry White Wine in Commercial Classes - Wolf Blass Yelow Label Chardonnay 2007
Best Mature Dry White - St Hallett Eden Valley Riesling 2005
Best Mature Sweet Wine - Gramps Botrytis Semillon 2006

Best Dry Red in Commercial Class - Pepperjack Barossa Shiraz 2006
Best Pinot Noir - Bay of Fires 2007
Best Shiraz Mature Classes, Best Red Table Wine and Best Wine of Show - Saltram No 1 Shiraz 2006
Stodart Trophy for Best 1 Year Old Dry Red - Penfolds Bin 707 2007

Best Muscat - McWilliams Show Reserve
Best Sweet Red Dessert Wine - Seppeltsfield Vintage Red

The Most Successful Exhibitor award went to Foster's Group.

I went to target and they didn't have anything, they said they had one around a week ago, but i think they were clearing them out and not selling any more

dammit! why didn't i get into wine a couple of months ago

big W had a 28 bottle one for $200, thermoelectric

on ebay they have a 40 bottle for about $110, but its compressor run

i read in this thread that somebody said the vibrations from the compressor can ruin long term storage of wine, is that true?

lordson wrote:i read in this thread that somebody said the vibrations from the compressor can ruin long term storage of wine, is that true?

The answer to your question is in the words "long term." Are you going to keep your wine for "the long term?" If its short term or medium term, (less than 5-7 years) I would not be concerned about vibration.

ahh, that is really helpful, thanks for that

nah, i probably won't ever have the patience to let something sit for over 7 years anyway

so might as well get the cheaper one then, plus it'll cool better in the stiffling melbourne summer

i think the cheap one will do for now, when i get more money, and if i get more serious and buy a Grange to keep for 15 years, then ill buy a new cellar

thanks TORB

lordson wrote:dammit! why didn't i get into wine a couple of months ago

You move pretty fast, from hating wine to "into it" and looking a wine fridge all in the space of two weeks, all the good advice here must be working.

Well I can say I have one of the best Wine fridges out there, MY GARAGE lol, nice & cool down there even in summer, best place to store some of my wine

i think my garage is the worst place to put it

brick walls, big metal roller door

it'll get really really cold in winter, and really really hot in summer

damn i hate melbourne weather. every year i dread the summer time

Can anyone give any feedback on this fridge?
My sister in law wants to buy my brother a wine fridge for Xmas.

Any help appreciated. I know its similar to the one above I think?

PRIMA 60 BOTTLE WINE COOLER

http://www.shoppingsquare.com.au/product.php?id=2036

Lucky to get above 50% humidity.

Top third of the fridge does not get to whatever temp is set. About 5C warmer.

Fans are noisy (unbalanced or something) comes and goes.

rednut wrote:Can anyone give any feedback on this fridge?
My sister in law wants to buy my brother a wine fridge for Xmas.

Any help appreciated. I know its similar to the one above I think?

PRIMA 60 BOTTLE WINE COOLER

http://www.shoppingsquare.com.au/product.php?id=2036

Looks the same as the 72 bottle model I bought 5 months ago except this one is $100 more.

Do a little searching around for a better price.