The Difference Between A Wine Bottle Refrigerator And Wine Cellar

By Ana Dupas

When you're contemplating the different methods of storing wine and trying to decide how you're going to store your collection, don't make the mistake of thinking that a wine refrigerator will give you exactly the same quality of storage as a genuine wine cellar. To begin with, there are differences in the stability of both temperature and humidity, and in many cases, light itself is a problem. So for long-term storage, a wine bottle refrigerator is not your best choice, but it will do just fine at keeping your "ready to drink" wine for a few months at least.

When it comes to temperature, a wine bottle refrigerator has fluctuation problems no matter what method is used to control them. If the fridge is compressor-based, then it will cool very efficiently, yet as the compressor cycles up and down, so too will the temperature fluctuate, even if it's just by a degree or two. Thermoelectric wine refrigerators, on the other hand, don't cycle in the same way, but are not quite as efficient as those with compressors. So temperature consistency will always be a concern in a wine fridge.

Neither does a wine bottle refrigerator typically control humidity as efficiently as its promotion may allege. The few that actually try use techniques that are not exceptionally dependable, so no producer has truly solved the humidity problem yet.

Moreover, despite the fact that a glass door on the front of the wine cabinet itself is likely decorative and displays the wines nicely, it can also be letting in damaging light. White wines, in particular, can begin to deteriorate in just hours if they are kept in see-through bottles. So, if the glass door of the wine refrigerator doesn't feature a specially tinted coating whose function is to screen UV light, the wine can undergo damage unless you use it rather quickly.

A person who is serious about storing wine must always differentiate between a wine cellar and the smaller refrigerated wine cabinets. No review sites, like the Galt Buying Guide (www.galttech.com) for example, will ever equate the two, recognizing that wine refrigerators are best suited only for short-term storage. A wine bottle refrigerator will never be a full substitute for a full-fledged wine cellar, particularly when it comes to storing fine wine that needs to age for longer than a few months. - 31805

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