A compact wine refrigerator is the ideal way to store your wine collection in prime condition, whether you are an avid collector or just like to have a few bottles on hand to share with guests. With capacities ranging from eight bottles up to 800 bottles, a wine refrigerator can be located on or under a kitchen cabinet or or be placed against a wall as a piece of furniture. Dual zone wine fridges can be used to store different wine types at different temperatures for drinking now or for longer-term storage and aging.
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 wine refrigerator will maintain wines at the ideal wine temperature and even those wines that are best served at room temperature should be stored in a cool environment while they develop complexity.
One of the advantages of a dual zone compact wine refrigerator lies is its ability to store different types of wines at different temperatures within the same wine cooler 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.
How To Store Wine The Right Way
Most wine lovers understand that they must treat their wines with respect and avoid vibration to the bottles to protect their 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 a low wattage bulb can increase the temperature in a space like a compact wine refrigerator. Because, ideally, wines should be stored in darkness, the use of LED lights that do not emit any appreciable heat will assist in creating a cooler and darker environment. It is recommended that you 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 space available for a wine refrigerator, tall, 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 environmental hazards that can alter 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.
