How to Save Money When Buying No Frost System Built-in Wine Cooler

WHAT IS A STANDARD WINE REFRIGERATOR TEMPERATURE RANGE?

Most wine refrigerators can be set between around 40 degrees and just under 70 degrees to cover the range of optimal serving temperatures for both whites and reds. A wine refrigerator can be set to maintain a consistent temperature of 55°F, an environment that can properly store all types of wine long term.

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However, you can also typically set it to the ideal serving temperature for your wine. For example, certain red wines, such as a lighter Pinot Noir or a heavy Syrah, can be stored between 60 and 68°F. Whereas, some white wines, like a classic sauvignon blanc, should be served at a cooler temperature between 48 and 52°F to help unleash the aromas and vibrant flavors.

Regardless of your wine preferences, with a wine refrigerator you are in control of the temperatures and can set the appropriate range for your wine collection.

Storage capacity

Standard wine refrigerators are about 24 inches tall and have the capacity to hold more than 40 bottles.

Installation

Many wine refrigerators from KitchenAid brand can be seamlessly integrated into your existing area with sleek installation and hidden hinges. Select models, like this KitchenAid® 24" Undercounter Wine Cellar, offer fully flush installation for a built-in look.

Temperature

A single temperature zone or dual temperature zone may be ideal, depending on your preference of red wine, white wine or both. Select wine refrigerator models from KitchenAid brand come with a Temperature Monitoring System, which provides added peace of mind by monitoring internal temperatures and alerting you if the temperature falls out of range.

Other select models offer Two Temperature-Controlled Zones that let you separate reds and whites to store each at different temperatures.

Types

Considering where you want to place your wine refrigerator can help determine which type is the best for you. 

Built-in models can be seamlessly installed under countertops for convenient access to wine while hosting dinner parties. Freestanding models are standalone appliances that can be housed outside the kitchen, in areas such as the dining room, for quick access to a refreshing Riesling after dinnertime.

Select wine refrigerators can store additional beverages, like seltzers and sodas, or even foods like charcuterie boards, so you can always have appetizers ready for your guests.

Energy efficiency

Select energy efficient undercounter wine cellars and refrigerators from KitchenAid brand support sustainability and can help save money on utility bills.

Style and design

Versatile undercounter wine refrigerators from KitchenAid brand can complement your existing decor with a stylish stainless steel finish. Select models also come in Black Stainless Steel with a PrintShield' Finish or a Panel Ready design, which allows you to install a custom front panel and handle (not included) over the door to create a seamless look with existing kitchen cabinetry.

INTERIOR LIGHTING

Bright interior lighting, like the LED Interior Lighting found in KitchenAid® wine refrigerators, makes it simple to see your wine selections when you open the door. Select KitchenAid® wine refrigerators feature Motion-Activated LED Lighting, so the inside illuminates as you approach the unit and dims when no longer needed.

UV-PROTECTED GLASS DOORS

To keep your Cabernet Sauvignon and White Zinfandel in quality condition, look for a wine refrigerator equipped with UV-protected glass doors. Some models, like this KitchenAid® Undercounter Wine Cellar, offer UV-Protected Thermal Glass Doors that filter UV rays to help prevent the damaging effects of heat and light. This model also features a Door Alarm that will alert you if the refrigerator door has been left open for more than five minutes to help ensure your wine is kept at the ideal chill.

AUTOMATIC DEFROST

Minimize appliance upkeep with a wine refrigerator that automatically defrosts ice for you. Automatic Defrost cycles found on select KitchenAid® wine refrigerators help reduce frost build-up inside your wine refrigerator, so you don't have to regularly empty the appliance and defrost it manually.

• This spacious fridge holds a lot of bottles at a reasonable price, with separate temperature zones for reds and whites.

• Its shelf positions are not adjustable.

Whether you're a collector of cases or just enjoy having a variety of bottles on hand at just the right temperature for drinking, the Untomax wine fridge is a full-featured but well-priced choice. Food & Wine senior editor Joe Morales has one and loves its dual temperature zones. "I use the top half for whites, rosés, and sparkling wines, and the bottom for reds," he says. "The pull-out trays also make it easy to read the wine labels without having to remove each bottle."

The Untomax's dual zones are set up on top and bottom, with air circulating in opposite directions in the two halves of the fridge to maintain separate temperatures. The top can be set from very cold (best for the lightest-bodied white wines and Champagne) to merely chilly (better for oaky chardonnay and other heftier whites), and the bottom goes from merely chilly (great for light reds like pinot noir) to just below room temperature (a good choice for long-term cellaring as well as big, punchy Bordeaux and cabernet).

The sliding shelves are a nice feature, but they don't come all the way out and aren't adjustable. The top and bottom sections each have one double-height and two single-height shelves. Any odd-shaped or non-750-milliliter bottles will fit but reduce the overall capacity quite a bit.

Dimensions: 21.6 x 19.6 x 33.6 inches | Capacity: 4.5 cubic feet | Weight: 75 pounds | Temperature Range: 41'54°F (upper section), 54'68°F (lower section) | Type: Freestanding

• This large-capacity fridge can maintain accurate temperature and humidity while protecting your wine from harmful UV rays.

• It's very expensive.

A favorite of serious collectors, EuroCave's coolers are engineered to mimic the climate of a subterranean French wine cave, complete with perfectly regulated temperature and humidity. It's a professional-grade wine fridge made to keep precious bottles clean, secure, and protected for short- and long-term aging. The beechwood shelves are removable, adjustable, and configurable in all sorts of ways, whether you want to stack bottles, cradle them horizontally, or display them vertically. Its LED interior lights can detach, and it has UV-resistant glass doors (or optional solid doors) to keep light exposure to a minimum.

EuroCave's La Première S can maintain an internal temperature of anywhere from 43 to 64°F, a slightly smaller range than some competitors but still one that covers pretty much the entire gamut for proper wine storage or service. It has dual cooling and heating units, so it can operate in a wide range of ambient temperatures ' from 32 to 95°F. Depending on your climate, you could potentially leave this fridge set up year-round in a garage or shaded outdoor area.

It's also huge, able to hold up to 98 bottles if you remove all the shelves. (If you're thinking of opening a wine bar, EuroCave offers several larger options, up to the La Première L, which can handle 230 bottles.)

Just get ready for a shock when you see the price tag. This luxury wine fridge costs several times as much as other options on this list. On the other hand, if you're collecting bottles valued at hundreds of dollars each, they deserve the best in storage. (And security: The La Première has a lock and key.)

Dimensions: 26.8 x 28.3 x 37.8 inches | Weight: 150 pounds | Temperature Range: 43'64°F | Type: Freestanding

• This simple wine fridge can hold nearly three dozen bottles for a surprisingly low price.

• Its round wire shelves aren't suited to oversized or unusually shaped bottles.

Frigidaire has a well-deserved reputation for high-quality, reasonably priced refrigerators and freezers. Like its full-sized appliances (two of which are among our favorite freezers), its wine cooler is a reliable workhorse. This freestanding wine fridge has an all-black finish designed to fade into the background, with all the basic features you need. There's an internal light, adjustable temperature from 46 to 65°F, and room for up to 34 bottles in a comparatively small space, plus an all-important door-ajar alarm in case you forget to close it all the way.

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What we don't love about this wine fridge is the curved racks on its shelves. Each one has five U-shaped spaces to hold bottles, which is great except that the spaces won't fit all bottles ' including even some of the taller 750-milliliter ones. They also can't deal with cans or small bottles. Still, for the low price, this is a great deal. And if you're looking for a dual-zone wine fridge at a similarly low price, we also recommend Frigidaire's 45-bottle model.

Dimensions: 17.3 x 19.3 x 33.1 inches | Capacity: 4.6 cubic feet | Weight: 72 pounds | Temperature Range: 46'65°F | Type: Freestanding

• This sleek and quiet dual-zone wine fridge packs a lot of bottles into not much more space than competitors.

• It may not be worth paying extra if you don't need the extra storage.

There's perhaps no better endorsement for this wine fridge than the fact that Food & Wine senior drinks editor Oset Babür-Winter comfortably fit it into her New York City apartment. "I've been keeping the fridge in the dining room, and love that it not only blends into the decor, but adds a bit of my personality," she says. "When guests come over they can easily see my collection (and I can see it too!) thanks to the fancy LED blue light, which I keep turned off most of the time." It keeps temperature stable and is whisper-quiet, without the annoying buzz or whir that cheap wine fridges often make.

The Wine Enthusiast Classic 70 is really a marvel of space-saving: It's only a few inches taller and roughly the same width and depth as other wine fridges, but it can hold as many as 70 bottles. (That's with all the shelves removed; the practical limit is more like 55 bottles, which is still a lot.) Setup is a breeze, and we found it's easy to adjust the dual thermostats ' both can be set from 41 to 68°F, so you can arrange your wine collection however your like. It's not wildly expensive, but this model does cost more than most smaller-capacity options. If you don't have 55 bottles to store, you might not need to pay extra for an extra-large wine fridge.

Dimensions: 40 x 24 x 25 inches | Capacity: 6.7 cubic feet | Weight: 152 pounds | Temperature Range: 41'68°F | Type: Freestanding

• A vent at the front and a reversible door let you set up this sizable fridge in all kinds of space-saving ways.

• The single-height shelves can only hold standard-sized wine bottles.

Many freestanding wine fridges take up more space than their actual dimensions, as they need a few extra inches at the back and sides for proper ventilation. This Hisense model has its vent in the front, which means it can be installed flush against a wall, in a corner, under a counter, or between cabinets to create a seamless built-in look. It's great for a home bar, outdoor kitchen, or for extra storage in a basement or pantry. The door is even reversible to ensure it can open in a tight space.

Food & Wine director of traffic and production Rose Cirrincione loves how quiet her Hisense wine fridge is. "It's an amazing value for the money. The shelves slide very easily to view inventory, and the automatic door light makes selecting wine easier," she says. "I'm happy with this unit, and it's perfect for small apartments or kitchens." The Hisense holds an impressive 54 standard wine bottles, but you might run into trouble if you want to store magnums, Jeroboams, or Nebuchadnezzars: The single-height sliding shelves can't accommodate oversized bottles.

Dimensions: 25.5 x 23.4 x 33.9 inches | Capacity: 5.4 cubic feet | Weight: 106 pounds | Temperature Range: 41'68°F | Type: Built-in or freestanding

• This modern fridge looks gorgeous, doubles as a bar cart, and even lets you see inside from your .

• It's pricey, especially for its small capacity.

Wine fridges are often...somewhat lacking in the aesthetics department. But the Rocco Super Smart Fridge proves that even this utilitarian appliance can be an eye-catching piece of interior design. It's available in five colors, with a ribbed reeded glass door that looks fancy and aids in insulation. The shelves are removable and reversible: They can hold up to 27 wine bottles, or 88 cans if you flip them over. The top of the fridge is a great place to keep wine glasses, wine stoppers, and other bar cart essentials, plus it comes with a serving tray in a matching color.

The Super Smart Fridge is indeed smart, too, with an internal camera that lets you see the contents on your . If you've ever stood in the supermarket aisle trying to remember whether you're short on malbec or merlot, it's the perfect option. Another nice advantage is the extra-wide temperature range, from 37 to 64°F. That means you can store meats, cheeses, vegetables, and other perishable goods, which require the sub-40°F temperatures of a "real" refrigerator.

"This isn't your regular wine fridge," says Dana Fouchia, Food & Wine senior commerce editor. "Rocco was kind enough to send me a sample to try out, and I can confidently say it's a conversation piece for everyone who enters my home. It not only looks ridiculously cool, but I like the modular shelving that allows me to change the setup depending on what kind of bottles I have on hand."

You do pay for the memorable look, however. This is an expensive wine fridge by any measure, and it's also the smallest in capacity on our list.

Dimensions: 34.5 x 24 x 16 inches | Weight: 128 pounds | Temperature Range: 37'64°F | Type: Freestanding

Factors to Consider

Purpose

Smith says to consider whether you're storing wine for cooking and everyday drinking, or as a long-term investment. You might need only a wine rack for very short term storing, but if your needs are a little more intricate, fridges are helpful. "If you are buying wines meant to age, you will want to invest in a quality wine fridge that can accommodate all bottle sizes," she says. "You can get away with one of the smaller wine fridges that you transfer daily drinkers into if you have a larger unit dedicated to long-term storage."

Capacity

Most wine fridges give their capacity in bottles, and that usually means a standard Bordeaux bottle, which is 2.75 inches in diameter, 11.75 inches tall, and holds 750 milliliters. But not all wine bottle shapes are the same ' Champagne bottles are wide and tall thanks to their thicker glass, for example, while German and Austrian whites like riesling often come in extra-tall, extra-narrow bottles. Depending on the exact shape of the racks and how they're configured, you may find your actual capacity to be bigger or smaller than the bottle count advertised.

Freestanding vs. Built-In

Some wine fridges are made to fit under countertops or between cabinets, while others are meant to just sit on the floor in a more open space. The main difference between freestanding and built-in wine fridges is ventilation: Units with vents on the sides or back need a few inches of clearance around them, while built-in models typically have a vent in front and can be installed flush against a wall. Many built-in wine fridges can also be set up in a freestanding position, but not typically the other way around. Check the instruction manual for your model's exact details. And if you have other appliances nearby, such as an undercounter ice maker, you'll want to make sure enough outlets are accounted for.

Temperature Range

For the most part, wine fridges are not as cold as the kind of refrigerator you'd use for food. Perishable items need to be kept under 40°F, while wine should be a bit warmer than that for both serving and storage. As a general rule, the lighter-bodied the wine, the colder you should serve it. Sparkling, rosé, and other refreshing wines are served coldest, at just above refrigerator temperature, while big, powerful reds like merlot and syrah should be poured at just under room temperature.

If you have a larger or more varied wine collection, you should look for a wine fridge with dual-zone temperature controls. This lets you set up separate cooler and warmer areas to keep different bottles at their ideal serving temperatures and ready to drink at the same time.

Shelving

Wooden shelves in a wine fridge are usually more desirable than metal, as wood tends to be gentler on labels. It's also helpful to have sliding shelves so you can see and access your bottles easily. For versatility, shelves that are adjustable or removable can be very helpful: This lets you store items of different sizes that might not fit on permanent shelves.

Doors

"Glass is more likely to break and cause greater susceptibility to temperature fluctuations," says Smith, who encourages choosing a solid insulated door for maximum protection. If you must choose a glass door, go for multi-layered tempered glass with a UV coating that helps shield your bottles from sunlight, which can degrade the wine.

Frequently Asked Questions

• How long does wine last in a wine fridge?

  Unopened bottles can last from months to decades ' that depends in part on the wine. Once the bottle's been uncorked, however, it's very perishable. Its taste and aromas will deteriorate within 24 hours if left completely open. Different types of wine stoppers will help keep the wine fresher longer, though none can keep opened wine good for more than about a week.

• How long should you chill wine in a wine fridge?

  It's best to start your bottles chilling early on the day you plan to serve them. From room temperature, it'll take a little over 2 hours to get to red wine'serving temperature, or about 3 hours for whites.

• What temperature should a wine fridge be?

  For a single-zone fridge, Smith recommends a "cellar temperature" of 56°F. This is a good range for long-term storage and a decent all-purpose serving temperature. (Use an ice bucket to serve sparkling wines extra-cold.)

  "If you have a fridge with dual zones, you will want to have your whites and sparkling perfectly chilled ' at 45 to 50°F ' and your reds closer to cellar temperature," says Smith. It's better to keep wine too cold than too warm; high temperatures can spoil wine permanently, while low ones merely slow the aging process.

• Can you store beer in a wine fridge?

  Yes! Many of our favorite beer fridges are technically wine coolers. The main difference is container size: Beer cans and bottles are mostly smaller than wine bottles, and they need differently shaped shelves to stack most efficiently. In terms of temperature, beer is usually served a little bit cooler than wine, but the ranges are similar. Stronger, darker beers are better at red-wine temperatures, while light lagers, like sparkling wines, are best very cold.

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Our Expertise

• Bernadette Machard de Gramont is a writer specializing in food, wine, and kitchen products. She has worked in the wine industry since , and uses her expertise to advise clients on how to collect, store, and sell prized vintages.
• Food & Wine senior writer Jason Horn updated this roundup with additional staff picks. A former editor at Liquor.com and spirits columnist for Playboy, he's been writing about food and drinks for almost 20 years.