Drinking a glass of your best red or white wine undoubtedly makes your soul happy. According to this study, wine is rich in antioxidants that can benefit your heart health. But, you can only enjoy your glass of wine when you take it fresh, meaning you need to store it in the best temperature zones. If not sure how to do this, we recommend getting the best freestanding wine coolers to preserve wine in.
A freestanding wine cooler is easy to work with as you don't have to build it into your beautiful kitchen cabinets. Instead, you can find space for it on your kitchen counter or floor.
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Freestanding wine coolers have the best features to keep your wines fresh and fun to drink. We tested the best wine fridges in the market to come up with a reliable list of seven we recommend buying today. But, before you start looking at repurposing the best side-by-side refrigerators, here are a few reasons why owning a wine cooler is important.
Why is a Wine Fridge Important?
Image Credits: learn.winecooldirect.com
Whether you want to take white or red wines, serving them at their ideal temperatures is the most important thing. Sure, it was long the best habit to serve red wines at room temperature, but this is not always possible with the ever-rising temperatures in most places that would leave the drink warm. Not refrigerating any wine can be terrible, especially when you want to serve your best collection to guests.
While you can store your wines in a standard or counter-depth fridge, you will likely struggle to maintain the best temperature zones they require. For example, white wines are generally served colder than red wines, and even if you want to store only one type of wine, it will still be hard to find the best temperature range to keep it and other food items in the fridge fresh.
Wines are living drinks that require controlled light, air/humidity, and temperature ranges for the best tastes. These are three elements you cannot guarantee with a standard fridge that stores other food items and that also gets opened many times. So, for the best wine storage, you will want to look for a good wine fridge or wine cellar.
Image Credits: forbes.com
A wine cellar is an ultimate appliance for any wine enthusiast like you. It is designed to only store wines, so you can expect the best temperature ranges and light and air conditions. Even more importantly, the wine fridge is designed with unique shelves to hold different bottle sizes in the best storage positions.
Also, wine fridges are available in different sizes, so you can grow your collection with time. Additionally, since you will not open it very much interfere with the temperatures.
But, you still need to understand the best temperature ranges for different red and white wines. This way, you can buy a wine cooler for a specific type of wine you love or get one with dual temperature zones. The latter is designed to have different temperature settings for reds and whites.
What Are the Best Temperature Ranges for Wines?
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As mentioned above, different wines need different storage temperatures to preserve the best tastes and encourage aging. So, as you buy your best wine fridges, it is best to understand how to store your specific bottles so you won't have to either chill them with ice or leave them on the counter for too long to reach the tastiest temperature.
To understand the best storage temperatures for your wines, the first thing to determine is your wine's chemical composition. Each type of wine has a quality that determines how cold you need to serve it. For instance, white wine must preserve good acidity, while red must leave a sweet taste in your mouth.
Image Credits: marthastewart.com
Regardless of the type of red or white wine you want to take, serving at the wrong temperature range can mute and not accentuate its qualities. With this info in mind, here are the ideal temperature ranges for storing and serving red and white wines.
- White and Rose wines are best stored at 45°F and 60°F. Still, it is best to understand the flavors you want to preserve. For example, full-bodied white wines like Burgundy, Chardonnay, or California are tastiest when served between 50°F and 60°F, while lighter-bodied white wines like Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Grigio will be tastiest when served between 45°F and 50°F.
- Sparkling wines taste their best after being stored at 40°F and 50°F. After all, these wines have a higher CO2 concentration that stays trapped perfectly in colder temperatures. Like the white wines, weightier sparklers like Champagnes need to be served near the 50°F mark, while you can serve lighter sparklers like Prosecco near the 40°F mark.
- Red wines are best stored between 55°F–65°F. Reds are best served near the room temperature range, so understanding flavors will prevent you from serving dull red wine or flabby warm red wine. As you store your wines, keep the full-bodied reds like Bordeaux and Cabernet Sauvignon near the 65°F mark to preserve their flavors. Similarly, store lighter-bodied reds like Loire Valley Cabernet Franc near the 55°F mark to preserve acidity.
- You can store fortified wines like Madeira and Port between 60°F–65°F. However, these fuller-bodied wines in the red category must retain their powerful flavors at room temperature or slightly lower.
Now that you know why and how to store your best wines, here are the best wine fridges to buy today. We tested many wine fridges individually but settled on these seven as they met the best temperature, light, size, and storage factors.
1. NutriChef 12 Bottle Wine Cooler Refrigerator
- PERFECT WINE STORAGE: With its 12 bottle storage capacity, this...
- COMPACT & DECORATIVE DESIGN: With its reinforced glass door with...
- PERFECT IDEAL TEMPERATURE – Control the exact temperature of...
- ULTRA QUIET OPERATION: Equipped with an advanced cooling system...
- GET IT WITH CONFIDENCE: This premium wine cooling unit is backed...
We were looking for the best wine coolers that guarantee temperature control, easy placement, and safe storage of wine bottles. We found this NutriChef model to meet all three requirements while providing extra aesthetics for any room. The wine refrigerator measures 17.7 x 9.9 x 31.2 inches, so it is small enough to place in most free spaces in your rooms. We placed it on a kitchen counter to improve the modern feel and theme of the room.
The wine fridge comes in a classy black body with a reinforced glass door. The door has an air-tight seal that keeps drinks at the set temperature range, and the reinforced glass door is best for keeping light at a minimum. But, as you know, wines also need specific light conditions to maintain their flavors and guarantee continued aging.
Image Credits: nutrichefkitchen.com
The best etiquette when serving any wine is always to face the label to your guest. With this in mind, you need wine racks that will not leave ugly marks on the label. Luckily, this wine fridge has sturdy scalloped wine racks and placing the bottles was not difficult for me. You will only need to lay a bottle in a designated position on the rack.
Finally, this wine refrigerator comes with digital control that allows me to adjust the best temperature range depending on the wines I preserve. It uses a compressor cooling technology to make temperature control easy. If you need a larger wine bottle capacity, this model is also offered in bigger freestanding options with 18 and 24-bottle capacities.
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2. Kalamera 46 Bottle Dual Zone Wine Fridge
- ★DUAL ZONE THERMOSTAT:Upper zone ranges from 40-50°F, and...
- ★TEMPERATURE MEMORY FUNCTION: These small wine & beverage...
- ★STAINLESS STEEL & WHITE AIR OUTLET: Special stainless steel...
- ★LARGE CAPACITY FOR WINE BOTTLE: This mini wine fridge holds up...
- ★VERSATILE INSTALLATION: Takes just 23.4 x 33 x 22.4 inches of...
If you need to store more bottles of wine but can't afford the traditional wine cellar in a basement, we tested this Kalamera unit for you since it can hold up to 46 wine bottles. The freestanding option measures 23.4 x 33 x 22.4 inches to take the least floor or counter space.
This wine refrigerator has dual temperature zones to help me set different temperatures for rich reds and crisp whites. In addition, it uses compressor cooling technology that ensures a noiseless and vibration-free operation. This Kalamera unit has beech wood wine shelves, and each bottle has separate storage, so you don't need to stack them. Plus, I like that the storage is gentle on labels and guarantees good wine-cork contact to prevent oxidation.
Image Credits: thespruce.com
We found it best to store white wines in the upper section that allows adjustable temps between 40-50°F, while the bigger and lower section was ideal for our red wine bottles with adjustable temps between 50-66°F. We also loved the temperature memory feature that restores the temperature ranges set before taking out your wine bottles.
The wine fridge met our placement and temperature expectations, but we still wanted to guarantee it could prevent a lot of light and humidity that would slow wine aging. Luckily, it has a stainless steel frame, white air outlet, and a double-layered reinforced glass door to control light and humidity.
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3. Ivation 12 Bottle Compressor Wine Cooler
- TEMPERATURE STABILITY - Ivation wine coolers’ compressor...
- PRESERVE WINE’S FULLEST FLAVOR & AROMA - Set the temperature...
- UV-RESISTANT DOUBLE-PANED THERMOPANE GLASS - A double-paned glass...
- SOFT INTERIOR LIGHTING - Turn on the energy-efficient LED light...
- REMOVABLE RACKS & EASY-TO-USE TOUCH CONTROLS - Rearrange the...
When buying the best wine fridges, you need to ensure the outside heat does not penetrate the wine bottles as that would affect the temperature range inside the unit and slow wine aging. This Ivation wine cooler guarantees this temperature feature and comes with adjustable ranges between 41°F to 64°F that are ideal for reds and whites.
While it offers reliable temperatures, we did not particularly like the single zone temperature range as it makes storing both types of red and white wines tricky. But, it is the best wine cooler for you if you intend to store one type of wine or if you don't mind calculating the best temperature sweet spot for reds and whites.
Image Credits: ivationwinecoolers.com
It is a compact wine cooler that measures 9.92 x 17.72 x 31.18 inches to take up little space on your counters or floor. In addition, I like its modern design that includes a glossy black exterior, and a double-paned UV-resistant glass door adds an exciting touch of class to your decor.
A good wine cooler keeps external light at a minimum to guarantee wine aging. This model comes with energy-efficient LED lighting to illuminate the bottles when you need them. We also loved the scalloped and adjustable wine racks designed to hold wine bottles without damaging labels and the easy-to-use digital control panel for setting the best wine environments.
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4. Schmecke 12 Bottle Compressor Wine Cooler
- TEMPERATURE STABILITY - Schmecke wine coolers’ compressor...
- PRESERVE WINE’S FULLEST FLAVOR & AROMA - Set the temperature...
- UV-RESISTANT DOUBLE-PANED THERMOPANE GLASS - A double-paned glass...
- SOFT INTERIOR LIGHTING - Turn on the energy-efficient LED light...
- REMOVABLE RACKS & EASY-TO-USE TOUCH CONTROLS - Rearrange the...
If you don't need the best dual zone fridges, then this Schmecke is another single zone model we can recommend. It has a 12-bottle capacity and measures 17.72 x 9.92 x 31.18 inches to take little space on your floor or counter. It will keep your best wines at temperatures between 41°F to 64°F, but you will also need to find a sweet spot if storing reds and whites. After all, reds are best stored and served in warmer temperatures than white wines.
Image Credits: schmecke.com
The modern wine fridge is designed with a thermopane and UV-resistant glass door with an air-tight seal to maintain the cellar temperature at optimum levels. We found setting the temperatures with the digital control panel quite easy, while the LED lighting makes accessing stored bottles easy.
We love maintaining perfect wine labels for the best serving etiquette, which is why we were drawn to the unit's scalloped racks that you can remove or rearrange to hold different bottle shapes. In addition, the wine fridge comes at an affordable price and is also available in a stainless steel look.
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5. Koolatron Urban Series 12 Bottle Wine Cooler
- Affordable Luxury: This elegant freestanding wine fridge holds up...
- Simple Controls: User-friendly controls let you easily select...
- Freestanding Convenience: You can place this compact freestanding...
- UV Protective Glass Door: Double-paned mirrored glass door...
- Reliable Efficient Cooling: Eco-friendly thermoelectric...
This Koolatron Urban mini wine fridge is one we love for its cooling technology and design. The 12-bottle wine cooler measures 10 x 19.5 x 25 inches and uses the more eco-friendly thermoelectric cooling technology that works without vibration and harmful CFCs to cool your wines to 46°F-66°F.
Image Credits: linechest.com
The wine fridge is quite portable and comes with adjustable legs so you can store it in different areas with a power source. It also has adjustable shelves that are scalloped to store standard wine bottles in perfect shape. The fridge can store whites and reds, but you will still need to find the perfect rage to preserve the full aromas.
We found this unit easy to operate with the smart touch controls that allow you to set temperatures and turn the soft LED lights on or off. The unit also comes in a modern design that includes a UV-resistant double-paned glass door.
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6. BODEGA 24-Inch 176 Bottles Wine Cooler
- ???? 176 BOTTLES HIGH CAPACITY: BODEGA wine cooler 24 inches is...
- ???? INNOVATIVE & EXQUISITE DESIGN: BODEGA Wine Refrigerator is...
- ???? QUICK AND EFFECTIVE COOLING: the built in wine cooler...
- ???? ENERGY-EFFICIENT COMPRESSOR, NOISE REDUCTION, DE-VIBRATION:...
- ???? DOUBLE-PANEL TEMPERED GLASS DOOR: The modern double-layered...
We tested this unit for people who want a growing wine collection but don't have the space to build a traditional wine cellar. Firstly, it is a 176-bottle wine fridge that can carry different sizes and shapes. Though it has such a large storage capacity, the wine fridge only measures 26.96 x 23.54 x 75.78 inches, so you can store it on floor space in your kitchen or bar area.
The unit uses a compressed cooling system and works in both ℉ and ℃. As a result, I can store my Bordeaux, Pinot, and more wine bottles at a temperature range between 40℉-65℉ regardless of the outdoor temperature. In addition, you also won't have to worry about lighting as the fridge comes with soft LED lights that gently illuminate your collection without slowing the aging process.
Image Credits: bodega43.com
We found the wine cellar easy to operate since it has smart touch control features for temperature, humidity, and light. In addition, the wine cooler has a modern look that can complement any room decor, especially with the double pane glass door that will display your collection.
The only things we did not like about this wine cellar were its relatively high price and single-zone temperature ranges. Still, you can find a sweet spot for preserving your reds and whites.
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7. Wine Enthusiast 18-Bottle Dual Zone MAX Compressor Wine Cooler
- COMPRESSOR COOLING - State of the art compressor cooling...
- MULTI-TASKING WINE COOLER – Your varied collection needs...
- EASY USE – An easy-to-use digital touchscreen on the front...
- THE PERFECT SIZE - Holds up to 18 Bordeaux bottles and is ideal...
- LONG-LASTING QUALITY – Each cooler is backed by the Wine...
Wine Enthusiast is one of the biggest brands you can look to for wine storage, which is why we tested and recommend this 18-bottle wine cellar. It is a modern-looking wine fridge that measures 20 x 25 x 37 inches, so it will not take up a lot of storage space.
Since an 18-bottle capacity allows you to collect different types of wines, including different reds and whites, we loved the unit's dual-zone temperature control. This feature allows you to set different temperatures for different sections where you store reds and whites.
Image Credits: wineenthusiast.com
The Wine Enthusiast fridge comes with scalloped chrome wire shelves that will not dent your wine label, while a large bottom shelf is the best place to store your large vintage bottles for display. In addition, the unit uses compressor cooling technology which guarantees a stable temperature range to preserve your wines. Unfortunately, this technology also keeps restarting every few minutes, which we noticed causes the unit to be a bit noisy.
Finally, this unit comes with a Wine Enthusiast warranty and is also built to complement your interior decor with the black metallic exterior and a double pane glass door.
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Factors to Consider Before Buying Your Best Wine Fridges
A wine fridge is a long-term investment for wine lovers, so it makes sense to consider the best features before buying any model. If our recommendations above didn't narrow your search to a single unit, here are factors we think you should consider when selecting wine fridges.
a) Size
Before you buy, understand the best placement for your freestanding wine cooler. For example, if you do not have enough floor space, it might be worth looking for a compact fridge that can sit on your counters.
b) Bottle Capacity
The storage capacity is one of the main features you should consider in a wine cooler. It requires you to figure out how many bottles you want to store at a go. The feature also relates to the size of the whole unit, as the more bottles a cooler can hold, the bigger it will be.
But, if space is not an issue, consider your wine needs. So, how big is your wine collection?
c) Cooling Technology
All wine coolers use thermoelectric or compressor cooling technology to keep your bottles chilled. While both are effective, each has its advantages over the other.
The thermoelectric cooler technology is the most eco-friendly and noiseless because it has fewer moving parts. Still, the compressor cooling technology is more reliable when you want to maintain a particular temperature range.
d) Temperature Range
Before buying most wine fridges, you must understand the temperatures you need for your wine collections. Generally, whites, rose, and sparkling wines need to be stored and served a bit cold to preserve their acidity, while red and fortified wines are stored and served near room temperatures to preserve their sweetness.
So, as you look for the best freestanding wine coolers, first understand your wine collection. For example, if you take or serve more whites than reds, it may be best to look for a unit that lowers the temperatures significantly. Alternatively, you can also look for the best dual zone wine coolers that allow you to set different temperatures for whites and reds.
