Storing Wine: Bought my first Wine Fridge

[hellohello123]

So I know the basics of wine, ive had a bottle of grange given to me on my 18th of my year of birth, thats been stuck in the back of my cupboard, Took it to the red wine clinic a few years and passed

so a relative of mine has passed and before he did , he gave me about 15 bottles,, he wasnt much of an expert,

there is a 2 x Basket Press 13
2x Basket Press 2012
Grange 2012-2017
2x coonawarra something
2x Yalumba Signature
2x wynns coonawarra shiraz x2

ive recently bought a Hisense 30 bottle Wine fridge to store them,

Got a couple of questions, if you dont mind

1. Should I keep the tissue paper on the grange in the fridge
2. As soon as i plugged the fridge, within 15 mins there was ice forming on the back coils, is this normal? kind of feel the labels are going to get mouldy, Photo attached


Thanks in advance guys

[Sean]

Welcome to the forum.

No that is not normal with a new wine fridge.

A few things to check.

If the wine fridge was transported to you horizontally after you purchased it, then wait two hours before turning it on for the oil to flow back to the compressor.

Check the temperature. Set it to 16C to start with. After a few hours running it should be cool inside, not cold.

Do not leave the door open too long, especially if the ambient temperature is very warm and you have been running the fridge at a much cooler temperature.

Check the door seal, it should have slight suction or resistance when you open the door.

If a new fridge is frosting up, there could be an issue with the rubber door seal. The Hisense manual tells you how to do a simple fix.

Also defrosting is automatic. Make sure the water drain hole at the back of the fridge is clean and has no impediment.

[hellohello123]

Welcome to the forum.

No that is not normal with a new wine fridge.

A few things to check.

If the wine fridge was transported to you horizontally after you purchased it, then wait two hours before turning it on for the oil to flow back to the compressor.

Check the temperature. Set it to 16C to start with. After a few hours running it should be cool inside, not cold.

Do not leave the door open too long, especially if the ambient temperature is very warm and you have been running the fridge at a much cooler temperature.

Check the door seal, it should have slight suction or resistance when you open the door.

If a new fridge is frosting up, there could be an issue with the rubber door seal. The Hisense manual tells you how to do a simple fix.

Also defrosting is automatic. Make sure the water drain hole at the back of the fridge is clean and has no impediment.

thank you for the reply and welcome

i think i may have sorted half the problem, I did those checks you mentioned
today was particularly hot 34Deg here, i realised it was frozen as I had the door open for a while putting the bottles in,
I left it for a few hours and went back and now its back to non frozen (see pic)

however while i opened the door for a few mins to check, i noticed it started to freeze , so maybe the fact the temperature difference when the door is open is the cause

ive also increased the temp from 13 to 16 degrees
however at 13 degrees the wines feel awfully cold, like almost a normal fridge, is this right?

[Sean]

No worries.

Ran a poll here on the forum a while ago about wine fridge temperature. Running it at 14C or 16C was the most popular. Others run theirs a bit lower at 12C.

See how it goes. If you are still having a problem, maybe contact the supplier.

Your kitchen refrigerator runs at a much lower temperature, around 5C I think.

[hellohello123]

Thanks for your advice sean;)

All my wine seemed fridge cold but last night i had a feel and it just seemed to be chilled so i guess its all good now
Im happy to put the rest of my wine in especially my year of birth one

Im going to leave mine at 16 degrees

Part of the reason of the ice may have been because ive been storinf my wine in thr back of the cupboard but the wine fridge went upstaris which was probably 40degrees , the other day when it was really hot here

[mychurch]

I just ordered a Leibherr today to store the collection that has been growing in the hall this past year. Says it will take 195 bottles, but I guess it will be in the 170 range as standard Bdx shaped bottles are becoming rare now - the burg bottle seems to more popular.

I will be setting the temp to 16 and I don’t expect there to be any issues.

[hellohello123]

I just ordered a Leibherr today to store the collection that has been growing in the hall this past year. Says it will take 195 bottles, but I guess it will be in the 170 range as standard Bdx shaped bottles are becoming rare now - the burg bottle seems to more popular.

I will be setting the temp to 16 and I don’t expect there to be any issues.

i had a look, damn those prices!

[mychurch]

You get a bit of quality with Leibherr. I have had a few over the years, and they have all run well. The top for me is EuroCave and I’m glad my wife got me one in a sale 10+ years ago. Classy, but the prices dwarf that of the Leibherr and unless the fridge is going to be a centrepiece of your living space, then it’s not worth the upgrade.

[mjs]

I understand the convenience of a wine fridge in the home, if you have no other suitable storage, or you want to make sure that your special bottles are kept in optimum conditions. It's just interesting to do the maths on cost.

Let's choose a reputable brand, often mentioned in this thread, a 195 bottle capacity Single Zone Leibherr for $4290 at Hardy Normal. That's $22/bottle just in capital outlay, excluding running costs. That's roughly (give or take) equivalent to ten years in professional storage. So, I guess it's a balance, do you want to go to the fridge and be able to pull out a bottle on a regular basis or are you "storing" them. If it's the latter, then perhaps professional storage might be cheaper in the long run.

[cuttlefish]

I've pondered turning off my Leibherr's and just letting them sit ambient during the cooler half of the year, but I'm not sure if that's good or bad for the fridge itself. If my wine stays below, say 18-20 degrees across winter, I'd be relatively comfortable with that. No direct sunlight to speak of, so I expect it'd be a fairly calm environment as long as they stay mostly closed, which they generally do.

[mychurch]

Let's choose a reputable brand, often mentioned in this thread, a 195 bottle capacity Single Zone Leibherr for $4290 at Hardy Normal. That's $22/bottle just in capital outlay, excluding running costs. That's roughly (give or take) equivalent to ten years in professional storage. So, I guess it's a balance, do you want to go to the fridge and be able to pull out a bottle on a regular basis or are you "storing" them. If it's the latter, then perhaps professional storage might be cheaper in the long run.

The reason to have fridges and not storage is that storage can be extended, while there is usually a physical limit to the number of fridges you can have at home. That used to be 3 for me, went down to 1 and will soon be back to 2.

I am basically addicted to buying wine, particularly at auction, and having space limitations is the only way to stop me from buying more. I guess I’m no alone with that problem.

[mychurch]

I've pondered turning off my Leibherr's and just letting them sit ambient during the cooler half of the year

I used to do this in Europe Tom and given where your fridges are situated, I think it may work in Melbourne. I’m not worried about wines aging prematurely though - used to have storage elsewhere for the wines that needed 10 to 20 years.

In my current situation, the fridges will have to be in the warmest part of the house and I’ll probably have to run them all year.

[Michael McNally]

I am basically addicted to buying wine, particularly at auction, and having space limitations is the only way to stop me from buying more. I guess I’m no alone with that problem.

The first step on the road to recovery is recognising you have a problem.

Good luck!

Michael

[asajoseph]

Aaah, my favourite topic....

Re: the OP, it depends what you think you'll do with the wine longer term, but I'd seriously consider investing in a better fridge. Hisense is definitely at the bottom end of the market, but I wouldn't rely on it for longevity or providing the absolute ideal temperature. Normally it'd be fine for anyone just getting started, but sounds like you have a few $k worth of wine in there which is worth protecting properly. As others have said, Liebherr & Eurocave are the only two brands I'd recommend.

That said...

I'm looking for a smaller (~40 bottle) fridge to top up my capacity at home. I have one of the large Liebherrs (holds about 150 in practice), and was trusting the passive conditions in my partially below-grade cellar to be sufficient for the remainder of the collection, but I've noticed temperatures start to creep up in most recent days.

I'm not too worried about most of it - but there are maybe a couple of dozen bottles that I can't fit in the Liebherr that I need to do something extra to care for.

Appliances Online currently have an appliance by a brand called Esatto that I've literally never heard of (https://www.appliancesonline.com.au/product/ ... ge-cabinet) - I'm tempted by it. Good capacity, reviews ok, 3 year warranty, and I wouldn't be mortified / out of pocket if it carked it - but I'd still rather not spend my money on junk (or a Vintec!!!).

[Ian S]

Let's choose a reputable brand, often mentioned in this thread, a 195 bottle capacity Single Zone Leibherr for $4290 at Hardy Normal. That's $22/bottle just in capital outlay, excluding running costs. That's roughly (give or take) equivalent to ten years in professional storage. So, I guess it's a balance, do you want to go to the fridge and be able to pull out a bottle on a regular basis or are you "storing" them. If it's the latter, then perhaps professional storage might be cheaper in the long run.

The reason to have fridges and not storage is that storage can be extended, while there is usually a physical limit to the number of fridges you can have at home. That used to be 3 for me, went down to 1 and will soon be back to 2.

I am basically addicted to buying wine, particularly at auction, and having space limitations is the only way to stop me from buying more. I guess I’m no alone with that problem.

I think this is a very useful comment for people to reflect on, and certainly having restricted available space helped me keep buying in check over the years, especially as I enjoyed the process of cellaring wines into their maturity.

[saturn5519]

Been looking at Lecavist fridges.Good reviews.They have an up to 50percent off sale on some fridges at the moment.

[mychurch]

My Leibherr finally arrived today. Looks fantastic, but it was a bit of a shock to find out that I had enough wine to fill it. 195 is the capacity, but I have about 185 bottles in. As usual, its the Burg bottles that are the problem - they have cost me 1 row. Either way, I assumed zit would be 2/3 full and it’s not. There is some room in fridge Nr 1, but I still have to 2 cases of Port to unpack, the Sami-Odi order is on the way and there are 7 bottles to pick up from MW. Going to have to pause on the purchasing until I make some room. Or of course, I could buy another fridge….

[SipAndANibble]

I’ve found this too, in that my small fridge is at capacity so I’m limited in new purchases in a one in one out way. But I also know in the back of my mind there’s a few inferior wines in there that can be replaced. And yes it’s annoying that the different bottle sizes become a jigsaw puzzle! Would be easier if they were all in the standard format. I keep mine at 14 degrees and try not to open it to browse.

[SipAndANibble]

I’ve found this too, in that my small fridge is at capacity so I’m limited in new purchases in a one in one out way. But I also know in the back of my mind there’s a few inferior wines in there that can be replaced. And yes it’s annoying that the different bottle sizes become a jigsaw puzzle! Would be easier if they were all in the standard format. I keep mine at 14 degrees and try not to open it to browse.