Wine Cooler/Refrigerator Quick Pick Recommendations
In our research of wine cooler refrigerators, we’ve found several that come highly recommended from current owners. Below, we include a sampling of these solid chillers. We’ve included one cooler in each of several categories that we think are worthy of being “quick picks” – we feel anyone in the market for a wine cooler in that size would be happy with this particular model – it’s reliable, attractive, and a good value for the money. So, without further ado, here are our quick picks – recommended wine coolers.
Quick recommendations, by bottle count:
12-Bottle Wine Cooler:
Avanti 12-Bottle Wine Chiller (Avanti EWC120B)
The Avanti 12-Bottle Wine Chiller gets excellent reviews from users, overall. Most people liked the compact size, pleasing appearance, quiet operation, overall practicality, and good value of this cooler. This is the most reliable 12-bottle wine cooler we've researched, by far. There were the usual concerns about its limited capacity, but that would obviously be the case with any 12-bottle chiller. So, if you're looking for a small cooler, and really don't think you'll need more capacity, the Avanti 12-bottle wine cooler is a solid choice.
Dual-Zone Wine Cooler – 18-bottle:
EdgeStar 18 Bottle Dual Zone Wine Cooler (Model TWR181ES)
If you’d prefer a dual-zone wine cooler, for keeping your white wines and red wines at different settings, the EdgeStar 18-bottle wine cooler is a solid choice. It has an attractive design, energy efficiency, quiet operation, adjustable shelving, and has proven reliability. Current owners overwhelmingly were happy with their choice, and recommend it highly.
Like the 12-bottle Avanti, above, it is a thermo-electric model, thus the quiet operation, energy efficiency, and, maybe unfortunately, limited usefulness if used in a warmer than usual environment. If you need to store your wine in an environment that even occasionally exceeds 78 degrees or so, you’ll probably want to look at compressor-type wine coolers, like those below.
Larger, Compressor-type wine cooler/refrigerators
The most frequent (by far) recommendation made by present wine cooler/refrigerator owners is to buy as much capacity as you can. They consistently suggest buying a cooler unit with twice the capacity you think you’ll use, and at least a 30-50 bottle unit.
30 Bottle Wine Cooler:
Avanti 30-Bottle Wine Chiller With Electronic Display Review (WC1500DSS)
Our first choice for a 30-bottle wine chiller would be the Avanti 30-Bottle Wine Chiller with Electronic Display. It seems to be very well received by people who have purchased it. All of the reviews we found were positive. Reviewers especially liked the appearance – stainless steel outside, with wood trim on the shelves. The Avanti brand is well-respected, and has a reputation for reliability, so we can recommend this wine cooler with confidence.
A sampling of reviewer comments:
- “perfect fit under cabinet to replace an unused trash compactor”
- “a very good value for a small, reasonably priced, wine cooler”
- “back light adds nice look”
- “Great value and looks”
- “lock at the bottom is great for keeping our young children out!”
50 Bottle Wine Cooler/Refrigerator:
Avanti 54 Bottle Wine Cooler (WCR5103SS)
Our choice for a 50-bottle wine cooler is from the Avanti line, a line which receives many recommendations from wine aficionados online. We only found three reviews for this particular model, but the ones we did find were all positive – in fact, very positive. And, as we said, the brand is mentioned often, and with positive commentary, in forums and reviews.
A sampling of comments from owners, and what they liked:
- “great product”, “perfect unit”, found after much research
- sturdy, roll-out wooden shelves – essential when constantly pulling out bottles to find the one you want
- temperature control is easy to use – lights up when the appropriate temperature range for red wine or white wine is selected
- solid security lock, to keep out the kids, babysitter, etc.
- very attractive (2 reviewers) – stainless steel frame, wooden shelves
- free standing, and can be used as a built-in
- very quiet – it’s hard to tell when it’s running
- bottom shelf is easily removed to make room for larger bottles
100+ Bottle Wine Cooler/Refrigerator:
Franklin Chef Dual-Zone 2-Door Wine Cellars – 100 Bottle (aka Wine Cellar 100-Bottle Capacity Dual-Zone Wine Cellar – HDC100)
Our current recommendation for a 100-bottle wine cooler comes highly recommended from over 1 dozen reviewers. Most of our reviews came from the Home Depot site, where it's called the “Wine Cellar 100-Bottle Dual Zone” (HDC100). It appears exclusively at Home Depot under that name. That said, purchasers have universally been happy with it. Please note that the one review at Amazon.com is only a 2-star review, due to the fact that they wanted to use it under-counter, and it didn't work very well there.
Owner comments include:
- “love the wine cooler – it’s exactly what we were looking for…after much research”
- “love the dual zones”
- “Runs very quietly”
- “Great price for the quality” – echoed by several reviewers
- One reviewer is even using it in their restaurant
This unit is available at Home Depot stores, or you can See it / Buy it online.
