FWIW, I just bought a Vintage Keeper 500 from eBay, new, for $1581, shipping included. Not sure that was the best possible price for such a unit, but I've seen them for much more too. It looks great in my basement, and really does not take that much space.

Let me add to this thread this note:

I have a Haier cooler, which i purchased because the brand was highest rated in consumer reports (and, yes, I now know how hated this publication is in these parts)

In any event, I will look in on the thing and see a 5 - 7 degree variation in temp over the course of a couple of days, or even one day.

I don't know if this is a major problem for the wines within, and I have had few if any corked or otherwse ruined wines since I have had it, but just with the number of wine cooler related threads around here it was worth mentioning.

How do you like your Vintage Keeper so far? I'm looking at the 220 for $895. Is yours performing as you expected? Was it fairly simple to put together?

My wife and I are relatively new to wine as a serious venture. We've always been around and enjoyed wine, as we have both worked in restaurants for 10 years, but our appreciation in last year or two has been amped up a bit.

For Christmas, I received a Kenmore 24-bottle fridge. While Consumer Reports rated it as an 'Editor's Pick' in its capacity range, I know nothing w/r/t its limits and storage longevity. Outside of monitoring humidity levels, I am prone to think that a fridge is a fridge. Kenmore? Any opinions?

I have the same Haier 36-bottle wine fridge as CallyCab, and I did have a '94 Cockburn port cork crumble this year...after having been stored in there for 3-4 years.

I'll have to figure out how to add a little water tray...

CaliCab,
I have the same problem you have with my Haier.
I've set it for 58 degrees. However, I can go down in the morning, and the display says 52, and in the afternoon, it says 60. I figured that the unit was either defective, or the temperature display is inaccurate. Has anyone else had this problem?

I saw an a local add for a Eurotech 50 bottle wine cooler for $495. The add says retail is $995. Does anyone have any insights on this brand.

My estimate storage times would be something like:

1 year or less – 25%
1-3 years - 40%
3-5 years - 20%
over 5 years – 15%

Summer can get pretty warm in my location.

Calicab and ChrisW,

You need to measure the temp inside a bottle to know what your temp. variation is per day. You can get a temp probe with high low data storage from Radio Shack. Put the probe into a bottle with some water and then check your high low temps. I have a Breezeaire with a 300 bottle unit and see 3-5° swings in air temp, but only 0.5° changes in bottle temp.

Thanks treeman for bringing reason into what is too often an overblown warning.

Will do, thanks treeman.

Ressurecting an old thread here....

quote:

Originally posted by indybob:
Interesting, I'm in the same boat as Mateo, and am learning a lot here. Anybody have experience with the Avanti refrigerators? In terms of reliability or anything else.

I am ready to get my first cooler (albeit a small and VERY affordable one). I was looking at the Avanti, and about to hunt one down. Would you recommend it over the Magic Chef, or vice versa?

Thanks!

Ott: I just got my second cooler, an Avanti 166 bottle cooler. I just went with the single temp as you get a lot more storage from much less money. This Avanti is so much nicer than the haier 48 bottle one that I had that I cannot imagine what the eurocaves are like.

This has wooden shelves that slide out and is very, very, very heavy, and quiet and I have really not noticed any temp variations outside of +/- 1.0 degree on a daily basis.

I am using the new one for reds and the old one for whites (right now), and then will have to start putting my whites into ice buckets after they get kicked out of cold storage when I fill up the new one.

Dale

quote:

Originally posted by Dale451:
...when I fill up the new one.

That is the most relevant part of Dale's response. Given that you're looking at a very small wine fridge, I don't think I have a chance in hell of convincing you of how many bottles you are eventually going to want to store.

Just go with the cheapest one right now. In a year or two it's going to be irrelevant to you, and in the short term whatever you get will probably be fine. I'm guessing you're not going to be storing anything in it that will require 5-10-20 years before it's ready to drink.

quote:

Just go with the cheapest one right now. In a year or two it's going to be irrelevant to you, and in the short term whatever you get will probably be fine. I'm guessing you're not going to be storing anything in it that will require 5-10-20 years before it's ready to drink.

Good advice. I'm looking for one now that I can get for under $200 or so, and those seem to hold 24-28.

Good point about quality, as one day down the road I will surely be replacing it. So for now I'll go with a basic feature set and the cheapest price I can find.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: OTTnMIA,

quote:

Originally posted by OTTnMIA:

quote:

Just go with the cheapest one right now. In a year or two it's going to be irrelevant to you, and in the short term whatever you get will probably be fine. I'm guessing you're not going to be storing anything in it that will require 5-10-20 years before it's ready to drink.

Good advice. I'm looking for one now that I can get for under $200 or so, and those seem to hold 24-28.

Good point about quality, as one day down the road I will surely be replacing it. So for now I'll go with a basic feature set and the cheapest price I can find.

Hey OttnMia,

I got the Avanti 28 bottle model for the Holidays as a gift. It looks good, works well for me, although since then I've almost tripled the capacity. The extras I have either in the rack in the dining room (under $20 daily/weekly drinkers), or in a dark spot of the closet. The pricier built for aging wines are in the Avanti.

Do I buy more wine than I probably should, yes, but the small Avanti keeps me from going overboard with the high priced vinos.

Another word on the Avanti, until the summer humidity comes, I keep a little dish of water in the unit (eats up one spot), as I understand that even a little extra humidity can keep corks from drying. Also, make sure you give it the recommended amount of room behind, so the fans don't overheat.

Good luck,

Thanks for the input, Bob. I am in the process of tracking down that Avanti, I think it's gonna be perfect for me... for now.

For a tip with those haiers/kenmores ... if yer having humidity problems, you can use a lil trick they do with cigars, you stick a wet paper towel in the unit and it'll add some more moisture inside.

Just new into wines also and purchased a Sears Kenmore Freestanding Wine Cellar with Security Lock model #14322. A good starter for under $250.

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?pid=046143220...s&BV_UseBVCookie=Yes

I just bought a GE Profile for our vacation home. I'd have liked another quarter inch between the racks. The larger bottles fit barely, but the device is quiet and cools well.

quote:

Originally posted by Board-O:
I just bought a GE Profile for our vacation home. I'd have liked another quarter inch between the racks. The larger bottles fit barely, but the device is quiet and cools well.

That actually is the only complaint I have about my Avanti. The fat bottomed tapering bottles are a snug squeeze on all but the top rack.

I bought a big fridge a while back. Then I had to move, from Spain to the US. Sold the fridge. What no one has mentioned in many of these discussion of wine coolers (unless I missed it) is the simple solution of having the wine stored at a wine storage facility. Ok, that only really works if you live in an urban eviron like NYC. What I'm doing is getting a cheap 18 bottle cooler (looking at Edgestar TWR181ES, any opinions?) for near term drinkage and putting the long term stuff in a "professional" storage site. Makes moving around a lot easier.
One thing that I'd like to see is a study done on the effect of multiple micro-fluctuations of temperature on a wine as opposed to gentle daily fluctuations (as in a underground cellar). The constant up-down temp variation may have long term implications as the wine and air is constantly expanding and contracting. Even if by .5 deg as measured in the bottle, who's to say that's a lot or a little when repeated n times a day x 365/yr x 5 to 10 years. Or maybe it's equal to one long variation that changes the temp within the bottle by several degrees. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't it this slow breathing of oxygen that let's the wine age over the years by slight oxidation (hence the color change)? They've found that plastic "corks" with too perfect a seal don't let a wine age properly.
Sorry, I've gone on long enough.
-john

Along these lines....

I have a 35 bottle fridge and thought the temperature was running a little low.

I am storing all reds and planning to age some 5 years. So I put some water in the fridge and measured the temperature at different levels of the fridge on the lowest setting on successive days at 50 C.

I was aiming to keep these wines at 55 C.

Is this going to matter long term? Does this mean I should just plan to age these a little longer or decant longer before drinking?

bfw

I've never been there, but don't you live in friggin' Ontario. Won't an average basement work as a cellar up there? You're going to be fine with some gradual yearly fluctuation, 50-65, that kind of range, as long as you don't spike above 70 degrees for too long.

There is a lot of information on wine cooling on-line that I found informative. There is a difference between a refrigerator and a cellar. I would advise reading the info at www.galtwine.com, and no, I don't work for them, or have any connection to them other than that I learned a lot from their web site on wine storage. The guy that runs it is a pushy Texan, but I think he really means well.

quote:

I would advise reading the info at www.galtwine.com, and no, I don't work for them, or have any connection to them other than that I learned a lot from their web site on wine storage.

I actually bought from them before. good deal overall. Someone mentioned Edgstar wine coolers sold exclusively at some other outfit in Texas. I would advise against it. My brother bought one of their wine cooler units and it just stopped cooling after a month or so. Completely ruined 8 bottles of Tenuta San Guido 2004 Sassicaia. He got them pretty cheap in an estate sale but what a fine waste. When he tried to return the wine cooler he was given all kinds of excuse.