Magic Chef 8 Bottle Wine Cooler (MCWC8DCT2)
January 2020 Update: The Magic Chef 8 Bottle Countertop Wine cooler is no longer available. However, Magic Chef still produces the Magic Chef MCWC12B Black 12-Bottle Single-Zone Wine Cooler. It gets 4.4 out of 5 stars on Amazon, which is almost unheard of for a wine cooler. (Very, very few wine refrigerators manage to break the 4.0 ratings level, for a variety of reasons.)
Magic Chef also makes a very nice, very reliable, 6-bottle countertop wine refrigerator, the Magic Chef MCWC6B 6-Bottle Single-Zone Black Wine Cooler. It's another highly-rated wine fridge on Amazon, earning a 4.5-rating.
You'll be happy with either one of these. Check them out!
Magic Chef 8 Bottle Wine Cooler (MCWC8DCT2) Original Review:
Our Rating:
Based on: 10 reviews/ratings
Approximate price: $100 Capacity: 8 Bottles
Features:
- 8-bottle capacity
- Single zone
- Temperature range: 44°F-66°F
- Stainless steel look door
- LCD digital controls
- Interior light
- Quiet thermoelectric cooling
- 16.5″W x 11.2″H x 20.7″D
Pros:
- Adjustable shelves
- Attractive design
- Quiet operation
Cons:
- As with all thermoelectrics, they take a while to chill a bottle of wine
- Questionable build quality
- Inaccurate temperature
Sampling of owner comments about the Magic Chef 8 bottle wine cooler (MCWC8DCT2):
- functional, stylish, and at a phenomenal price
- buzzing noise sometimes bothers me
- had to take it back to the store to exchange it
- Good value for the price
- Temperature does not go as low as we would like
Our conclusion:
We found ten reviews of the Magic Chef 8 bottle wine cooler – enough to get a decent idea of how happy its owners are with it, but not enough to be conclusive. There were the typical complaints that it didn't get cold fast enough (typical of thermoelectric cooler/chillers), and that the temperature range wasn't accurate. Honestly, in a sub-$100 wine cooler, we wouldn't expect accurate temperature setting capabilities.
Owners consistently agreed that this Magic Chef countertop wine cooler is very attractive, with its sleek stainless steel look. They also liked that the shelves are adjustable, which is not very common in a small wine cooler. Without this feature, it would be difficult (or possibly even impossible) to chill unusually sized bottles.
Reliability over the long term is hard to determine with this small of a sampling. We did find one (out of ten) that said their chiller was a lemon, and had to be returned. Another reported that the first one they bought had to be returned. That's two out of just ten owners' experience. We'd be a bit leery of the quality over the long term, but, again, for under $100, it may work well enough, long enough.
If you need a wine cooler that will chill your wine quickly enough to enjoy with unexpected guests, you may want to check out the Cooper Cooler Single Bottle Wine Chiller, which cools very nicely on its own, but uses ice to do so.
The Magic Chef 8 bottle wine cooler can be purchased for around $80 (on sale, online), so it's not much of an investment. At that price, the Magic Chef 8 bottle wine cooler (MCWC8DCT2) seems to be a pretty good choice for a stylish, countertop wine cooler.
Update: Since the original 8-bottle Magic Chef wine refrigerator is no longer made, we suggest you check out either of Magic Chef's newer models – the 6-Bottle and 12-bottle models. Both get outstanding reviews, and are very reasonable priced.
Check out our other recommendations for single bottle electric wine chillers, and our wine cooler buyer's guide.