If you didn’t already know, you can’t keep your wine just anywhere. You need to keep it in the right place, at the right temperature, and so much more.
There is actually quite a bit that goes into the proper storage of wine. Now, that being said, most people probably are not going to have a wine cellar down below their homes.
Yes, they are expensive and unless you own a large villa or palace, is probably unnecessary. Even full-sized wine fridges are often too large to fit in most homes.
Sure, if you have a big house, it might work, but even then, a full-sized wine cooler can hold hundreds of bottles of wine, which once again, is probably unnecessary.
This is why wine coolers were created, also known as wine coolers. These are small versions of the wine cellar and they definitely get the job done. Some can hold 10 bottles, and some can hold close to 60, 70, or sometimes even 100 bottles.
They are convenient, space saving, and cost efficient too, while still providing you with all of the benefits that wine cellar bring to the table. Let’s get to it and talk about the types of wine coolers out there right now.
Wine Cooling System vs. Design
Ok, so before we get into the specifics of the matter, we need to make a certain distinction. We are going to be talking about wine cooler in multiple ways. These cooler can be categorized by their technology, or in other words, the way in which they keep the wine cool. The other category we will talk about is the design or structure of the fridge, which in most cases can be either single or dual zone.
We will be covering compressor and thermoelectric coolers, which belongs to the tech section, and we will talk about single and dual zone wine coolers, which is part of the design section. So there is no confusion, these categories are not mutually exclusive. A wine cooler can be both thermoelectric and feature dual zones.
Compressor Wine Cooler
Simply put, these fridges work in the same way as regular refrigerators in your home. The type of technology used is known as air compression technology and it is quite effective. This works by compressing air to cool it down, and then releasing it back into the wine cooler to keep your wine cool.
There are special refrigeration chambers which compress refrigerant molecules, which actually increases their temperature. However, when these molecules are released, they cool down very rapidly, thus cooling wine inside of a compressor wine fridge.
One thing to note here is that this type of wine cooler requires venting space at the back for the created heat to escape. They use an air fan on the inside of the cooler to disperse the cool air.
Pros
• They are very effective at keeping a constant temperature
• They are fairly easy to place as long as the back is free for ventilation
• These things are extremely efficient
• The external environment has no influence on them
• Wide variety of temperature settings
• They are usually quite spacious
• Cool wine very quickly
Cons
• Tend to create vibrations which may alter wine chemistry
• Tend to be quite noisy
• Decreased mobility – installation of compressor
Thermoelectric Wine Cooler
This type of cooler is very different from the compressor wine cooler. They work by using an electric current to cool the wine down. They feature an electrolyzed metal rod which heats up on one end and cools down on the other. The cool end faces towards the interior of the wine cooler, with the hot ends facing outwards.
This serves to draw hot air out of the fridge while providing it with cold air. As with the compressor coolers, these use small air fans to disperse cold air throughout the wine cooler. One thing that needs to be said is that these coolers are not quite as energy efficient or as quick cooling as the compressor fridges.
Pros
• They are usually quiet
• Do not produce vibrations
• No chance of over-freezing wine
• Can be placed virtually anywhere
• Lightweight and mobile – no compressor needed
• Fairly energy efficient
Cons
• Outside temperature does play a role
• Not all that fast at chilling wine
• Usually not very spacious
Single Zone vs. Dual Zone
Now that we have made the distinction between thermoelectric and compressor wine coolers, we want to cover the different designs that you can find, mainly related to temperature zones. You can choose between single zone and the dual zone varieties.
Single Zone
As we previously mentioned, a single zone wine cooler can use either compressor or thermoelectric tech. The main point to keep in mind is that single zone coolers feature one compartment for all of the wine with one single temperature. They are good options to consider if you only have one kind of wine or just don’t have too many at all.
They are good options because you usually don’t need to make adjustments to the temperature. They also tend to be less expensive than dual zone wine fridges, which is because there is less hardware involved. Maturation of wine can be a problem because they usually don’t allow for much temperature fluctuation. That being said, single zone wine fridges are good options for beginners.
Dual Zone
As the name implies, these wine coolers have two zones for wine, or in other words, two separate compartments. These compartments can be individually set for temperature, which makes these coolers ideal if you have more than one type of wine that needs to be kept at a different temperature from the other.
If you want to store reds and whites at different temperatures, this is the way to go. Just be aware that these coolers are more expensive, and they take up a fair amount of space, so only make the investment if you are sure that it is worth the cost.
As long as you know what you need out of a wine cooler, you should have no problem choosing the type that is right for you.