WIne Cellar

More info, like what size are you looking for? What is your spending range?

I'm in the same boat and have looked at almost all of the well known and some of the lessor known wine cellars/coolers.

Eurocave seems to be the preeminent manufacturer of wine cellars. They are the top of the line and have humidity control as well as temperture control, but are the priciest ones I found starting at $1000 for a 100 bottle safe and go up quickly from there.

The Vinotemps are a little less expensive and to my understanding do not have any humidity control. However, acording to many on this forum, you can just put a bowl of water on the bottom of the cellar to maintain the proper humidity. There are two reports online of where the Vinotemp hit 22-29 degrees and froze the wine which is a little concerning.

You can get a great deal on the Avanti (online for as low as $840 for the 166 bottle) my only concern is fitting Noir bottles and other oversize bottles. Likewise, I saw a report that it does not have enough cooling power at full capacity.

I guess if you have $1,800+ you're safe with the Eurocave options, oterwise most of us seem to be shooting in the dark.

I'm sure others on this forum have had experiences with many of these options.

Here's a good thread to start

Another important factor is whether this will be in a living area where appearance and/or noise are considerations, or going behind a closed door in the house, or in the garage where a whole host of other concerns crop up.

Just installed a Vintage Keeper 220. I am very happy with it--there is some talk about its long term durability, we'll see. Can't beat the price--$950 plus tax. I picked it up at the Beverage Factory in San Diego and saved a bundle on shipping.

Whatever size you want to buy, double it. The thing fills up fast.

When I purchased my wood wine cabinet, the store I bought it from told me that the Wine Mate actually emits humidity inside the cabinet. They said that Vinotemp was the number one brand for this type of product. My wine mate came with an alarm, that if its too hot or too cold it would ring. What happened that it got so cold? My sales man asked me about the location of where I was putting the unit. That if it goes in the garage, it has to have more insulation, and an upgraded compressor otherwise the unit cannot handle a too hot or too cold environment. I did see some of their units at Costco, and they were different, they were the metal kind. These didnt have the Wine Mates inside, it had glass doors and looked more like a refrigerator with glass, and wood shelves instead of racks.

Good advice from CalifJmf. That is why we have a Vinotemp 60, Eurocave 260 and Vintage Keeper 500 We keep our more accessible wines in the Eurocave. It is nicest looking and I like the rolling shelves, but we have a hard time maintaining humidity. The VK on the other hand has kept perfect temp & humidity. Least rec is the Vinotemp which struggles with both. We ended up just using it for everyday whites.

re: Beverage Factory.com
Definitely DO NOT recommend this company. They wouldn't accept a credit card for purchase. They first told me it was because I was not in the continental US, but that is not the case, and what should it matter. They wanted a wire transfer, which made me suspicious. Then they changed the story to say it had to due with warranty coverage. They won't take a credit card because they have had too many requests for refunds due to warranty issues, etc. In other words, they do not stand by their (apparently frequently faulty) products.

No paypal either...

NO F#^*&$ING SH#@ ....>>>>>

quote:

Originally posted by CalifJmf:
Whatever size you want to buy, double it. The thing fills up fast.

...............................................
....listen to this guy....he speaks truths......

I just bought a EuroCave from Wine Enthuist. It was more expensive than the other brands but after hearing all the forum members talk about all the units, I decided that this was the brand.
I am very happy with it and if you call WE, you can make deals with them to get the price to a more managable level...and as it has been suggested, buy bigger than you think!

BSPollack: Welcome to the boards!

My advice would be to get a Eurocave and be done with it.