Wine Refrigerators Replace Cellars for a Fraction of the Cost

The kitchen of today is rapidly becoming what we used to envision as the kitchen of tomorrow. What we used to think of as the kitchen of the rich folks, meanwhile, is becoming the kitchen for anyone.

Take wine storage, for instance. It's unlikely that Joe Sixpack (or Joe Winebox, as it were) will have the need or resources any time soon for a high-end wine cellar. Still, those wine drinkers who take their fruit of the vine seriously want to make sure that their occasionally expensive investments don't go sour on them.

Ask anyone who knows about wine and they'll tell you that standard refrigerators usually chill good white wines far too much. Red wines, meanwhile, should actually be served just a tad cooler than room temperature (whatever that happens to be, depending on the geographic climate, your thermostat setting and the time of year).

Either way, serving a wine at the incorrect temperature can either ruin your appreciation of the vintage by masking its character or just turn it into something undrinkable.

So what to do? Home wine racks come in many attractive and stylish shapes and sizes, but they still require some preparation of the wine itself. The idea behind a wine cellar is that expensive and rare vintages are kept at the optimum temperatures at all times, and are therefore better preserved and can be served without any complex temperature modifications.

A great and relatively inexpensive option to the wine cellar is now the dedicated wine cooler. These are essentially small refrigerators designed specifically for the purpose of keeping wine maintained at an appropriate temperature without having to worry about meat rotting or milk going sour at the same time.

The best part is these units are designed specifically for smaller areas of the kitchen or bar, and can easily be installed under counters or even kept on a countertop.

When looking for a wine cooler for your home, there are several things to take into consideration, particularly if you do enjoy finer vintages in which you've made a significant investment.

The first is the method of cooling. Many units that use traditional compressors can vibrate the tiniest bit, which can often unsettle sediment that rests in the bottom of wine bottles. As a result, when opened the wine will taste like what was at the bottom of the bottle, and that's rarely an appetizing prospect. Thermoelectric coolers cause no vibration and are relatively silent.

Another factor to consider is lighting. If you are investing in rare and pricey wines, it's natural for you to want people to see them as they rest in their fruity suspended animation. The problem is that units that use standard incandescent bulbs can create hot spots near the bulb, resulting in inconsistent temperatures throughout the cooling chamber. Light emitting diode (LED) lighting provides great illumination, but with no hot spots.

Also keep in mind that wine bottles come in a variety of shapes and sizes, so the racks on which the bottles will rest need to be adjustable.

The next step? Stock, wait a while, serve and enjoy properly chilled wine from your own personal cellar - even if it is just sitting on your counter.