A wine cooler keeps your wine bottles at the ideal temperature to preserve their flavor, while freeing up space in your regular fridge for other foods like fruits, vegetables, and leftovers. To help you find the best option, the This Old House Team researched the top wine coolers on Amazon. Here are our top five recommendations.
Top 5 Wine Coolers
- Le Creuset Wine Cooler Sleeve: Best Single-Bottle Cooler
- Ivation Wine Cooler Refrigerator: Best Tall and Skinny Cooler
- Koolatron Thermoelectric Wine Cooler: Best Mini Cooler
- Whynter Large-Capacity Wine Refrigerator : Best Large-Capacity Cooler
- Kalamera Wine Cooler Refrigerator: Best Mid-Sized Cooler
Best Single-Bottle Cooler
Le Creuset Wine Cooler Sleeve
When you think of a wine cooler, the image that first pops into your head is likely a fridge. However, this product from Le Creuset serves a different function. It keeps a single bottle of wine chilled for hours at a time, making it perfect for carrying wine on picnics or to friends’ houses. It is made from pierce-resistant nylon and has elastic bands to better fit your bottle.
Key Features
- One-bottle capacity
- Made of nylon
- Available in multiple colors
What People Are Saying About The Le Creuset Wine Cooler Sleeve
Customers who liked this wine cooler said that it was durable, kept the bottle cold for a long period of time, and was easy to travel with. However, those who didn’t like this product claimed that it slipped off of smaller bottles.
Best Tall and Skinny Cooler
Ivation Wine Cooler Refrigerator
If you have limited floor space, consider this tall and skinny wine fridge that’s only 9.9 inches wide and 17.7 inches deep. It can hold up to 12 bottles in its cavity that has a wide temperature range of 41 to 64 degrees Fahrenheit. Its door is also made from double-paned glass to protect your wine from harmful UV light.
Key Features
- 12-bottle capacity
- Six shelves
- Made of glass and metal
What People Are Saying About The Ivation Wine Cooler Refrigerator
Happy customers liked that this cooler had a manageable noise level, was energy-efficient, and offered a wide temperature range. However, those who were unhappy claimed that the door handle didn’t attach properly and that the thermostat struggled to maintain a low temperature.
Best Mini Cooler
Koolatron Thermoelectric Wine Cooler
Though this wine cooler is about the size of an average mini fridge, its thoughtful design uses all of the available cavity space to hold up to 20 bottles. On the outside, is a digital temperature display as well as touchscreen temperature control buttons. On the inside, is an LED light for better visibility.
Key Features
- 20-bottle capacity
- Five shelves
- Made of glass and metal
- Available in other sizes
What People Are Saying About The Koolatron Thermoelectric Wine Cooler
Customers liked that this product had easy temperature control, a compact size, and a sleek design. However, those who were unsatisfied with this cooler said that it had a loud fan and was too small to fit larger wine bottles.
Best Large-Capacity Cooler
Whynter Large-Capacity Wine Refrigerator
If you have a lot of wine to store, this cooler has sizing options ranging from 96 to 166 bottles. This particular model holds 96 bottles on 12 removable shelves. It has an interior light strip with nine energy-efficient LED bulbs that allow you to look at your wines without damaging their taste.
Key Features
- 96-bottle capacity
- 12 shelves
- Made of glass, metal, and wood
- Available in other sizes
What People Are Saying About The Whynter Large-Capacity Wine Refrigerator
Those who were happy with this wine cooler said that it was easy to install, featured a sophisticated design, and had convenient sliding shelves. However, those who were unhappy with this cooler said that it didn’t hold as many bottles as advertised.
Best Mid-Sized Cooler
Kalamera Wine Cooler Refrigerator
This wine cooler can hold up to 46 bottles while fitting neatly into any kitchen or bar area. This fridge has a reversible door and a silent compressor, so you can place it in any room without worrying about it making an intrusive noise or not fitting.
Key Features
- 46-bottle capacity
- Five shelves
- Made of glass, metal, and wood
- Available in other sizes
What People Are Saying About The Kalamera Wine Cooler Refrigerator
Satisfied customers said that this wine cooler was easy to use, had a clean, classy look, and fit well in tight spaces. However, customers who weren’t satisfied with this product said that it wasn’t long-lasting and that it struggled to reach and maintain their desired temperature.
Buyer’s Guide
From mini fridges, to beverage refrigerators, to full-sized refrigerators, wine coolers come in many forms. To decide which cooler is best for you, consider the following factors.
Temperature Range
Choose a fridge that has a large temperature range to suit various types of wine. Certain wines require a cooler temperature to maximize their taste, while others need a warmer temperature for optimal flavor.
Size
Consider how much space you have for a wine cooler. If you are building a wine cellar or already have one, you won’t be as concerned about size because you’ll have a large space to fill. However, if you plan to put your wine cooler in the kitchen, you’ll likely want one that’s more compact and less invasive.
Bottle Capacity
In addition to the physical size of the cooler, you’ll always want to check its bottle capacity. Bottle capacity ranges from one to over 100. If you host a lot of gatherings, having a large cooler with several bottles on hand may be the way to go. However, if you live in a one-bedroom apartment with limited space, opt for a smaller fridge.
Noise Level
Some wine coolers are louder than others, and depending on where you plan to place it, that could become an issue. A wine cooler in a cellar can afford to be louder. However, if you’re keeping yours in a common area, it’s important that it’s not louder than the average conversation, which is 60-65 decibels. If the manufacturer doesn’t give you a noise rating, you can look at the type of cooling system. While more efficient, compressor systems are louder than their thermoelectric and absorption counterparts.
FAQs
Why do I need a wine cooler?
While wine coolers aren’t necessary to enjoy wine, they do enhance the wine-drinking experience because they neutralize the effects that heat and light have on the taste of wine.
What temperature should I set my wine cooler at?
It depends on the type of wine you’re storing. If you have mostly dry white, rose, or sparkling wines, keep your cooler around 45 degrees Fahrenheit. Light reds, full-bodied reds, and full-bodied whites can usually be kept at around 55 degrees Fahrenheit.
What are cooling zones?
Larger wine coolers often offer multiple cooling zones. These zones allow different bottles to be stored in the same cooler at different temperatures. If you have several types of wine that you want to store, it could be beneficial to buy a wine cooler with several cooling zones.
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We recommend products in each review using an intensive research process, spending hours combing through the best available models on Amazon. For a product to make our list of top picks, it must hold a solid sales record on Amazon, have consistently positive customer reviews, and offer unique features, among other factors. After narrowing down our list of recommendations, we conduct additional research and sometimes in-person testing to ensure that the products meet our standards. Once we conclude the research phase, we craft a well-rounded, user-friendly article that includes our recommended products and additional information to help homeowners like you make the right purchase.