The Auswine Forum

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I am in the market for a wine fridge with sliding shelves of at least 180 bottle capacity. Multi temperate zones are not a reqiurement.

My research led me to cellar@cellar-creations.com.au but after discussions with the sales rep i was a little uncomfortable forking out ~ $5.5k for a cabinet i've never seen (i'm in W.A. they are in VIC). Ideally i was also hoping to enter into a payment plan, e.g. Harvey Norman 50 mths interest free, although to date the quality / size of wine fridges at Harvey Norman are not at the standard I was hoping - it's been at least 6 mths maybe it has improved.

Can anyone vouch for the quality / service / reliability / integrity of cellar creations or recommend an alternative option meeting the criteria mentioned above.

Cheers all, keep up the good posts i love the reading the notes

Harvey norman stock vintec i have a V40SG 'e' and while i didnt get it from harvey himself im more than happy with it, im pretty sure others here could vouch for them as well. great wooden sliding shelves...

Check out this site:
http://www.quaffwinecabinets.com/prod-JC500series.html

I have a Transtherm cabinet, model is called the Loft. It is supposed to hold about 140 bottles at full capacity but I have it at about 100-120 and there is not much room left. I find that the wooden sliding shelves are just a bit small as they don't accomodate for all bottle shapes. When you have a dozen bottles neck to neck they don't lay nice and flat instead sticking up a bit which is a bit of a pain. The performance of the fridge has been fine and it maintains temperature within 1/2 a degree pretty much all the time. I'm sure if you look around you will find the price of the fridge alot cheaper.

Is there a particular reason you are keen on sliding shelves?

I have a Kitchener cabinet with a capacity of ~430 bottles which came in at a similar price to the 180 bottle model you mentioned...

I have two different model Transtherm (Ermitage & Castel) both have the capacity of 230 bottles, to reach the claimed 230 bottles capacity you will need to remove most of the wooden shelves.
I have these wine fridges for the last 8 years its been fine and maintain the temp with in 1 deg, despite the room temp, but as always, it is quite pricy.
I also have a Vintec 150 bottles in my study, it is a bit
nosier and not as refine as the Transtherms. nevertheless still doing its job.
Transtherm makes reliable first class wine fridges if you don't mind their price list.

Cheers
Boyeah

Thanks for your views.

Hmmm - V40SG's, i'm assuming this holds 40 bottles? If this is the case it's not big enough.

Softtail & Boyeah, you both supported the excellent quality of the transtherms but feel i could get a cheaper price.

Winetastic - i already have a 52 bottle lemair which after taking the shelving out i can cram about 70+ bottles in. I'm pleased with the storage but the effort in locating that bottle i want and ability to review my stock easily isn't possible. And no, lots of planning and better stock management dont fulfill my desires.

Almaviva - thanks for the heads up, i have emailed mail@quaffwinecabinets.com to see what they could do for me. However, there website wasn't up-to-date which isn't a good sign. *fingers crossed*

Any more ideas / vendors would be great

Thanks

Hi Grinners - good luck with whatever you end up buying. If you can go larger, I suggest you do so - you'll soon fill it and end up buying another unit; trust me.

I ended up with two Liebherr Grand Cru (196 bot. & glass door) single temperature cabinets and they cost around $3,150 respectively about three years ago. No problems at all since purchase and I can recommend them - no vested interest. Try www.liebherr.com.au - I had a few problems with accessing their site this morning so couldn't get the link for you.

Hey Grinners, yeah my vintec does on paper hold "40" bottles but even with out taking out any shelves i have more than 40 bottles in there with more room for another 8-10. prolly a little small for your needs but hey, just giving props to vintec

Grinners,

I have this fridge from Vintec. Great unit, wooden sliding shelves, holds 122 bottles.

http://www.vintec-cellar.com/models/mod ... e=160sp_ss

They pop up second hand from time to time, Ebay has all sorts of wine frideges on there at the moment or Harvey Normans has Vintec and Liebherr and you may get a demo one cheaper.

Cheers
Ian

Liebherr are the Mercedes, Porsche of wine fridges with German precision and reliability, they are always trouble free, but you pay for this expertise. They are available at www.andico.com.au
and Winnings in Sydney. Go for Kitchener if your budget cant stretch to Liebherr, or try for a used Liebherr.

Hospitality magazines and "Australian pages only" Google searches often turn up sales of USED catering equipment and restaurant equipment when places close down.
Fesq sell restaurant businesses so you could get a lead there and ring up regarding any second hand equipment from defunct restaurants. Used equipment is a real el dorado for the most prestigious brands of kitchen and wine gear.