Whether your an passionate wine collector or just like to have a few bottles available for a party, a compact wine refrigerator is an ideal way to store your wine. With wine cooler capacity ranging from eight bottles up to 800 bottles, a compact wine refrigerator can fit beneath a kitchen cabinet and a larger one can be placed against a wall. A dual zone wine fridge is available that can be used to store different styles of wines at different temperatures for aging or drinking.
For the many people who do not have the space to build a mini wine cellar, a compact wine refrigerator can provide an ideal solution. A compact under-bench wine refrigerator will maintain wines at the ideal temperature and it should be remembered that even those wines that are best served at room temperature should be stored in a cool environment to protect the integrity of the wine.
The advantage of a dual zone wine refrigerator is its ability to store different types of wines in the same unit. The recommended storage temperature for white wines is between 46 and 54 degrees Farenheit and for red wines it is 54 to 64 degrees Farenheit. As well as offering best practice temperature control, a wine refrigerator also maintains the correct humidity for wine storage.
All wine lovers understand that they must look after their wines and treat them with respect; this includes avoiding any vibration of the bottles, to protect the wine. All good quality wine refrigerators should be vibration free and many are now introducing interior LED lighting as a method of further protecting the wine.
Even low wattage bulbs can increase the temperature in an enclosed space like a compact wine refrigerator. Wines should ideally be stored in darkness, so the use of LED lights that do not emit any appreciable heat will assist in creating a better environment. Regardless of the type of lights you have, you should only open the wine refrigerator when necessary.
Most compact wine refrigerators utilize metal racks – the bottles are stored tilted slightly towards the opening end to ensure the corks remain in contact with the wine. Regardless of the available space for a wine refrigerator, tall and slender units that can hold up to a dozen bottles or larger furniture-sized units with a capacity of many hundreds of bottles can protect the wines from the hazards that can change their taste, hasten their aging and reduce their overall appeal.
At his wine blog – ChrisOnWine – Chris Miley occasionally mentions wine refrigerators amongst many other wine topics.
