Wine Cooler Refrigerator Tips

Investing in a wine cooler refrigerator or a wine cellar is a wise thing to do if you are serious about storing, aging and chilling your wines to near perfection. There are 4 main things to keep in mind when it comes to storing wines, along with questions to consider.

Before considering which wine refrigerator you want, take some time determining what you need. Since there are so many different types of these on the market today, you should ask yourself some key questions, to help define your needs:

- Will you chill and store white wine, red wine or both?

- How many bottles of wine may you plan on keeping chilled / aging?

- Do you plan on storing some wines for several years, as they age? Or will you be storing wines that you plan on drinking within a few months?

- Are you planning on storing the wine in a basement, or will you store them in your living quarters, or perhaps you are not sure yet.

Having some thought of answers to these questions will help you determine how large of a wine refrigerator you will need, as well as its capabilities.

The four key things to keep in mind when storing wines are Temperature, Humidity, and Light & Vibration.

Temperature & Humidity:

Of the four factors that can harm your wine the most, are fluctuating temperatures. This is the number one reason why if you are serious about storing wine in your home, you should invest in a wine cooler refrigerator.

If your home already has a central air conditioning system and a gas forced air furnace, your wine is less likely to experience the wide range of temperature fluctuations that homes without these climate controls may have. You will have problems with achieving the actual ideal temperatures for your wine, as well as the appropriate humidity ranges though.

While basements and garages may seem ideal, they are also often without appropriate controls to maintain the correct environment for storing wines. Humidity is often the largest issue in basements, while large temperature swings are the biggest problems in garages.

Wine can be harmed with temperature and humidity changes. Wine expands when it warms, and the pressure created in the bottle may push wine and the cork past the end of the bottle. This is more possible with a dry cork, because of a lack of adequate humidity. While the wine usually evaporates, the cork becomes dry and the label may be damaged. When the wine cools, it can draw the cork back into the bottle. The air that seeps back into the bottle causes oxidation and the wine will age more rapidly and damage it.

It's best to store red wines at about 55 degrees Fahrenheit and perhaps a little lower for white and sparkling wines. Ideally, storing all wines between 45 and 55 degrees is optimal, and never let wine freeze. Wines stored below 40 degrees are unable to chemically mature.

You should also check your wines for proper serving temperatures as most of the time; wines are served either too cold or too warm at home.

Humidity is the second most important factor to control in the wine storage and aging process. Having too little humidity will cause corks to dry out as discussed earlier. Having more humidity than desired will cause mold, which will damage the labels on the wine and reduce their value.

It's best to maintain humidity in a range between 65% and 70% if possible. 60% to 75% is also acceptable, however, the closer you are able to maintain to the first range is better. The goals are to keep the corks from drying out, but not so humid that mold forms. You should keep an eye on your control systems to ensure they operate in an acceptable range for both temperature and humidity.

Some wine refrigerators have different "zones" for different temperatures within the same unit. This is so that you can store red wines, white wines and sparkling wines at the proper temperatures. This is a great feature to look for if you will be storing multiple wine varieties.


Light & Vibration:

Light may seem like it should not pose a problem, but direct sunlight or ultraviolet light is indeed an issue as it will reduce the quality of the wine. To offset this risk, many wineries use colored glass in their bottles to reduce the amount of direct and ultraviolet light that the wine is exposed to. In your home, you should not store wine on countertops or tables exposed to direct light. Not only will the light damage the wine, but the heat of room temperature storage will cause a wine to lose its full potential.

When looking at wine cooler refrigerators, make sure that they use a low intensity bulb for a light source, and have ultraviolet protected glass on the doors, to minimize harmful rays.

While most people don't think about it, their home may have excessive vibrations and they not even realize it. Such vibrations are not good for aging wine and they can interrupt the stable development of wine.

While it's not the "best" way to tell if you have vibrations in your home, a simple test is to just place a clear glass of water filled to the top on a table. Sit down at the table and observe the top of the water. If you see it moving, there are vibrations from building motion, traffic, construction or other causes. You will also likely notice that the vibrations are different at other times of the day. If you were able to observe those vibrations, you would see how important it is to store your wines in such a way as to minimize the vibrations.

As you are considering the refrigerators be sure that they have dampening or vibration reduction, built into it. Vibration minimizing designs can include vibration isolation on the mechanical aspects including fans and compressors. Castors or wheels can also be shock mounted and coverings on the shelves that hold wine bottles can also be used. All of these possible designs can help to reduce excessive vibrations that can cause your wine not to store and age properly.

When you consider the information shared and the questions asked in this article, choosing the right wine cooler refrigerator should be easier now. Keep in mind that you are controlling temperature, humidity, light and vibration to give your wines an optimum environment for storing and aging at home. You will also probably be able to save money by purchasing your wine in cases instead of by single bottles.

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