INVEST IN WINE COOLER OPTIONS

Let us say that you have finally decided to get serious about having and properly maintaining a wine collection.  However, when thinking about having several bottles of wine on hand for future use and aging them to perfection, you know your refrigerator is a poor choice for storing your wine.  An investment in a wine cooler is an investment in improving your enjoyment of wine by storing it properly.

In your decision making process, you decided on a size (e.g., 24 bottle capacity), a specific application (e.g., counter top, free standing or under counter wine cooler) and color scheme (e.g., black cabinet with stainless steel door trim).  Now all you have to do is to go buy one.  There are many other critical options that you should consider and at the same time recognize that they incrementally will add to the cost of your wine cooler.

A key consideration that should be a part of your final decision-making is the need to secure your wine collection.  If you have children, you do not want them opening and closing the wine cooler or messing with the bottles that are so tenderly cradled within it.  For that matter, you may be in a situation that your family or friends might have an uncontrolled need to investigate for themselves what you so carefully have stored away.  If security is an issue, you will need to purchase a locking wine cooler.  There is nothing like a locked door to maintain your collection in the undisturbed condition that good wine aging requires.

Wines should be stored away from light.  Ultraviolet light (UV), especially with clear bottled wines, will damage your wine.  Sparkling wines are even more sensitive to UV rays.  Exposure to light may give wine unpleasant aromas and eventually ruin it.  Wine coolers are made with a broad array of different interior lighting systems and glass door tints.  Look for lighting that stays away from incandescent bulbs and for darkly tinted glass doors.  It is pleasing to the eye to look at your wine collection through a tinted front door glass, especially if your collection is lit with a soft blue LED light. 

Finally, wine does not like a “shake, rattle and roll” existence.  If you are aging your wines carefully, you will want to maintain them in as undisturbed condition as possible.  Thermoelectric wine coolers operate on a cooling system that is vibration free and are eco-friendly. Standard compressor models can operate better when indoor ambient temperature fluctuations are a concern.

Additional contributions to wine disturbance are a function of the wine shelving you select.  Many wine coolers come with racking systems that are made of metal, vinyl coated metal or wood.  Mostly, these racking systems can be removed for cleaning, but essentially are designed to be stationary in the wine cooler.  Some wine coolers now come with slide-out, glide-out or rollout shelving. This type of shelving is designed to allow access to your wine collection by merely pulling the shelf out.  This allows you to easily and gently remove bottle that you want without the potential to disturb other stored bottles.

Deciding to buy a wine cooler is a good first step in protecting and improving your overall enjoyment of your favorite vintage.  The ability to entertain your friends and family with wine at just the right temperature will make them envious.  However, do not slight that initial investment of a wine cooler by not investing in the addtional features that will take your wine storage from the minimal to the ultimate.  You may not appreciate that investment now, but yuou will as time moves forward.

For more information visit:  http://www.idealwinecoolers.com

Author: Ronald Senn, VP Ideal Wine Coolers, October 2009