We Review the Biggest Wine Coolers | NewAir

	NewAir AWR-1160DB Dual Zone Wine Cooler		Avanti 149 Dual Zone Wine Cooler		NewAir AWR1600DB Dual Zone Wine Cooler		EdgeStar 173 Bottle Glass Door Wine Cabinet		VinoCellier Glass Door Wine Cabinet		N’Finity Pro HDX 374 Double Door Wine Cellar
The Good	Dual Zone, Unique Gold LED Lighting, Three Railing Sliding Shelf System		Dual Zone, Custom Sized Shelves for Different Sized Bottles		Dual Zone, Unique Gold LED Lighting, Three Railing Sliding Shelf System		Wire Shelves Provide Better Airflow, Inexpensive		Large Storage Capacity, Provides 3 Different Storage Options for Wine Bottles		Dual Zone, Extremely Large Storage Capacity
The Bad	Small Storage Capacity for a Large Wine Cooler		Difficult to Access Wine Due to Limited Roll Out of Shelves		Large Bottles Can Only Be Accommodated By Removing Shelves		Small Number of Shelves, Wine Stacks Make It Inconvenient to Store Multiple Vintages		Need to Purchase Additional Wine Racks to Utilize All Storage Options		Very Expensive, Very Bulky
The Bottom Line	A Compact and Powerful Wine Fridge		A Good Tool For Aging Reds and Whites		A Versatile Wine Fridge Big Enough For Your Entire Collection		A Great Way to Preserve and Protect a Large Number of Wine Bottles		A Customizable Wine Cooler with Multiple Storage Options		Excellent for Wine Lovers with Extremely Large Collections

The launch of our new Premium Gold Line got us thinking about wine coolers. Not the ones just built to protect your wine, but the ones built to protect your entire wine collection. But that also got us thinking: how do the biggest wine coolers stack up, one next to the other? We found six of the best, lined them up, and had a look. Here’s our review of the biggest wine coolers on the market.

Considerations

Cooling Power

The first consideration when evaluating a wine cooler is how well it preserves the flavor and aroma of your wine. Wine is a complex solution that responds strongly to temperature. High temperatures and heat fluctuations can ruin a bottle of wine in a matter of hours if it’s not well looked after. Ideal temperatures vary depending on the vintage, but it’s generally 45°F for whites and 55°F for reds. Learn more by reading Finding the Ideal Red Wine Storage Temperature.

Storage Capacity

A large wine cooler is any cooler over standard countertop height (36 inches). The smallest can hold over 100 bottles of wine. The largest can hold over 350. Accommodating so many bottles is difficult, and it’s important that not every cooler solves the problem the same way. Some stack their bottles end to end, others on top of one another. Some have fixed shelving, others have customized configurations. It has a big impact on how accessible your wine is.

Design

Constructed from black and silver steel, big wine coolers are designed to be attractive additions to your home. Depending on the model, they operate either as freestanding coolers, built in wine fridges, or both. They all use push button controls, but arrange them differently, while interior lighting offsets and highlights your wine collection, transforming an ordinary wine fridge into an attractive wine display.

Price

Large wine coolers are high-end appliances and the price reflects it. The smallest cost around $1,000. The biggest cost over $5,000.

Cooling Power

NewAir AWR-1160DB Dual Zone Wine Cooler 

The NewAir AWR-1160DB Dual Zone Wine Cooler is a dual zone wine cooler with a wide temperature range. The upper zone can be set for 40°-50°F (best for whites) while the lower zone can be set for 50°-66°F (best for reds). The different ranges reflect the different storage requirements of red and white wine. Though it’s often recommended to store both at the same temperature (55°F), it’s not ideal. White wine contains fewer tannins than red wine, which means it doesn’t age as well. Tannins act are a preservative. They delay the production of aldehyde and acetic acid, the primary byproducts of oxidation. Without them, the only way to increase the lifespan of a wine is to lower its temperature and deprive the oxidation process of needed energy to proceed, which is why white wine ages when stored at 45°F rather than 55°F.

Avanti 149 Dual Zone Wine Cooler

The Avanti 149 Dual Zone Wine Cooler also has two temperature zones. The temperature range is 40°-55°F in the upper zone and 55°-65°F in the lower zone. Avanti recommends storing reds in the lower zone at 58°-65°F, whites and sparkling wine in the upper zone at 48°-55°F and 40°F-47°F respectively. Selecting a temperature activates one of the zone indicator lights – red for red wines, green for white wines, and yellow for sparkling wines- letting you know what type of wine each zone is primed for.

NewAir AWR-1600DB Dual Zone Wine Cooler

The NewAir AWR-1600DB Dual Zone Wine Cooler has different temperature ranges in each of its two zones: 40°-55°F in the upper zone and 50°-66°F in the bottom zone. The compressor cooling system maintains temperatures very reliably and the cabinet contains three layers of insulation to protect against external heat sources like stoves, ovens, or furnaces.

EdgeStar 173 Bottle Glass Door Wine Cabinet

The EdgeStar 173 Bottle Glass Door Wine Cabinet is a single zone wine cooler with a temperature range of 41°-65°F. If set to 55°F, it can store red and white wines reasonably well, but it’s best suited for either one or the other. VinoCellier Glass Door Wine Cabinet

The VinoCellier Glass Door Wine Cabinet is a French-built wine cooler with a single cooling zone and a narrow temperature range: 48-59°F.

N’Finity Pro HDX 374 Double Door Wine Cellar

The N’Finity Pro HDX 374 Double Door Wine Cellar is actually two dual zone wine coolers sold together as a single unit. That means that instead of one giant cabinet, the N’Finity Pro HDX 374 has two, each subdivided into different cooling zones, top and bottom, for a grand total of four.  Temperature range is 41°-54°F in the upper zones and 46°-66°F in the bottom zones.

Storage Capacity

NewAir AWR-1160DB Dual Zone Wine Cooler The NewAir AWR-1160DB Dual Zone Wine Cooler is the smallest wine cooler we looked at and it can hold the least bottles: only 116. It’s a wine cooler designed to preserve small collections. It uses a three rail shelving system made of hinged rails that allows the shelves to slide a full 2/3 of the way out of the cooler in one, smooth motion, even when they’re fully loaded with wine. The shelves are designed for standard 3-4 inch diameter wine bottles, except for the lowest, which can hold 4.75 inch diameter bottles. Anything larger can be accommodated by removing one of the shelves. Press down on the release tabs on the side of each shelf and pulled them out. Replace them by lining up the rails and pushing them back in.

The The NewAir AWR-1160DB Dual Zone Wine Cooler has 11 beech wood shelves – five in the upper zone and six in the lower zone. Each shelf holds 11 bottles of wine – placed end to end in a single layer- except the bottom shelf, which holds only six.

Avanti 149 Dual Zone Wine Cooler

The Avanti 149 Dual Zone Wine Cooler has 15 shelves and can hold 149 bottles of wine. The wine bottles are stored end to end in a single layer, just like in the NewAir coolers. Avanti uses rollers to slide wooden shelves, similar to NewAir as well, though theirs can only be pulled 1/3 of the way out. A pull-out roller assembly is included, but must be installed yourself. Unlike most other wine coolers, Avanti’s shelves are sized for different bottles. There are six designed for Burgundy bottles, which have sloping shoulders and larger diameters, seven for standard sized bottles, which have straight sides and tall shoulders, and two for small standard bottles. Shelves can be removed to accommodate larger bottles by pressing down on the release tabs on the sides of each shelf.

NewAir AWR-1600DB Dual Zone Wine Cooler

The NewAir AWR-1600DB Dual Zone Wine Cooler can hold 160 bottles of wine on its 15 beech wood shelves. It has the same three rail shelving system as the NewAir AWR-1600DB and they’re removed and replaced in the same way. The shelves are all sized for standard bottles, except the lowest, designed for 4.75 inch diameter bottles. Each shelf holds eleven bottles, laid end-to-end in a single layer.

EdgeStar 173 Bottle Glass Door Wine Cabinet

The EdgeStar 173 Bottle Glass Door Wine Cabinet holds 173 bottles. It uses wire shelves instead of wooden ones, which allows for better airflow and faster cooling. It only has six shelves, so wine bottles have to be stored by stacking them end-to-end, on top of one another. It’s not an ideal arrangement for anyone storing multiple wine labels on the same shelf, as it makes it difficult and time consuming to get to the bottles at the bottom of the stack and the back of the shelf. EdgeStar uses standard pull out shelves without rails or rollers. Once the wine’s been stacked on top, they can’t be pulled out without risking an accident. The shelving configuration can be rearranged by pulling out one of the shelves and moving it up or down to a different track.

VinoCellier Glass Door Wine Cabinet

You can store 267 bottles in the VinoCellier Glass Door Wine Cabinet. The unit only comes with fives shelves, so the bottles have to be stacked in layers, end to end, just like in the EdgeStar. You can fit up to 78 standard Bordeaux bottles on each shelf using this standard storage configuration. Additional shelves are available through the VinoCellier. Their wine cabinet can hold up to 13 and additional shelving provides additional storage options. Wine you want ready access to can be stored in “Sliding Shelf Configuration” – a single layer of 13 bottles that allows the shelf to slide safely in and out of the cooler. To display your bottles, use “Presentation Configuration.” Set a row of bottles upright along the end of the shelf and stack the wine behind it in layers. This configuration holds a maximum of 38 bottles per shelf.

N’Finity Pro HDX 374 Double Door Wine Cellar

The N’Finity Pro HDX 374 Double Door Wine Cellar can hold a whopping 374 bottles. It has 28 shelves that can hold 13 wine bottles laid end to end, plus two display shelves that can be titled up 45° to exhibit an additional 10 bottles. Each shelf is made of wire with wood trim. Each one has a sliding rail assembly that lets it come a full 90 percent out of the cooler. To help you find the right bottle quickly, there’s also a stainless steel label on each shelf to identify its contents.

Design

NewAir AWR-1160DB Dual Zone Wine Cooler

The most conspicuous design feature of the NewAir AWR-1160DB Dual Zone Wine Cooler is its gold LED lighting system. Whereas most wine coolers use blue interior lighting, gold lighting is a one-of-a-kind feature only available through NewAir and a great way to set your wine apart from the rest. The LED lights have two brightness settings, unusual in a wine cooler, so you can dim the lights if they’re disturbing you.

The NewAir AWR-1160DB also has a front-venting compressor, which means you can use it as a freestanding cooler or as a built in unit in your kitchen, dining room, or wine cellar. Its dimensions are 23.5 in. (Width) x 26.8 in. (Depth) x 56 in. (Height). The door is reversible, to help with placement, and made of triple pane glass. The top layer tinted and the third layer is UV resistant, to protect your wine from light damage. There’s also a lock, to discourage interlopers, and push button controls that display both the actual and set temperatures for each zone. The temperature display can also be set for Fahrenheit or Celsius.

Avanti 149 Dual Zone Wine Cooler

The Avanti 149 Dual Zone Wine Cooler is also front-venting and can be used in either freestanding or built in applications. Its dimensions are 23.5 x. 26.875 x 71.125 in. It has blue interior lighting and a reversible door that lets you avoid obstacles and ensure a full 90° swing when you open it. Its most conspicuous feature is the push button control panel, set outside the wine cabinet instead of inside, so you can adjust or check the temperature without disturbing the contents. The zone indicators are another unique feature, signaling the kind of wine each zone has been programmed to store. The LCD has only one display for each zone. It shows you the current temperature inside, not the temperature you set. You only see that when you adjust the controls. It switches over for a few seconds then, once you’re done, switches back.

NewAir AWR-1600DB Dual Zone Wine Cooler  

The NewAir AWR-1600DB Dual Zone Wine Cooler has the same design and features at the NewAir AWR-1160. It’s front-venting, with a reversible, triple pane glass door, and a security lock. It has the same gold LED lighting system with two brightness settings. The stainless steel trim on the door complements most home decor. Its dimensions are 23.5 x 26.8 x 70 in. The wine cabinet is made from cold, rolled steel and is one of the most reliable on the market.

EdgeStar 173 Bottle Glass Door Wine Cabinet

The EdgeStar 173 Bottle Glass Door Wine Cabinet is strictly a freestanding unit. It’s compressor vents out the back, so it can’t be built into your home. Its dimensions are 23.4 x 27.2 x 68.375 in. It has a reversible, tempered, double paned glass door, as well as a safety lock. Unlike a lot of other wine coolers, the EdgeStar is solid black. The push button controls are located at the top of the wine cabinet, behind the door. Like Avanti, they only display the current temperature, not your programmed temperature.

VinoCellier Glass Door Wine Cabinet

The VinoCellier Glass Door Wine Cabinet is another all-black, freestanding unit. Its dimensions are 26.8 x 26. 8 x 71.25 in. It has a unique control panel. It’s built into the roof of the wine cabinet and swings down when you want to use it. Because of this, it’s more compact than the LCD displays on the other coolers. Because it’s set back in the wine cabinet, the display and buttons are larger and easier to see than on the other units. The door handle is recessed, instead of sticking out like on most models. There’s also a built-in hygrometer to track the humidity. Excessive humidity can rot the cork and lead to mold.

N’Finity Pro HDX 374 Double Door Wine Cellar

The N’Finity Pro HDX 374 Double Door Wine Cellar is extremely large, twice as wide as any of the other wine coolers we’ve seen. It’s dimensions are 52 x 29.25 x 72.25 in. N’Finity has a unique blue and red lighting system. The lights shine on the two display racks at the top of the wine cabinet. The light can be set to red or blue, or to alternate periodically between the two. The control panel is located at the top of the cabinet, outside the door, so you don’t have to disturb your wine whenever you adjust it. Both the set and current temperatures are displayed, and the push button controls are lit with blue LEDs. The temperature display can even be deactivated to give the N’Finity cooler a sleeker look.

Price

NewAir AWR-1160DB Dual Zone Wine Cooler 

The best price we found for the Avanti 149 Dual Zone Wine Cooler was $1400. Average price was $1700, pretty reasonable for a cooler this size.

NewAir AWR-1600DB Dual Zone Wine Cooler

The lowest price for a NewAir AWR-1600DB Dual Zone Wine Cooler was $1600. Average price was $1800, comparable to other coolers with its size and power.

EdgeStar 173 Bottle Glass Door Wine Cabinet

This was a big surprise. Given its size, we’d expected the EdgeStar 173 Bottle Glass Door Wine Cabinet to be more expensive than the NewAir AWR-1600DB, but it was less – only $1099! Amazing.

VinoCellier Glass Door Wine Cabinet

Average price for the VinoCellier Glass Door Wine Cabinet was $3400. The cheapest price was $3200.

N’Finity Pro HDX 374 Double Door Wine Cellar

Unsurprisingly, the N’Finity Pro HDX 374 Double Door Wine Cellar was the most expensive wine unit we reviewed. Because it’s such a high-end unit, there aren’t many sellers and only one available price: $5200.

The Bottom Line

There was a lot to be said for the other wine coolers on our list, but we liked the NewAir AWR-1600DB Dual Zone Wine Cooler the best. The price for the NewAir AWR-11660DB Dual Zone Wine Cooler was just too high, given the amount of wine it could store. The bottle stacking configurations in the VinoCellier Glass Door Wine Cabinet was just too inconvenient, and we didn’t like the idea of buying extra shelves to take advantage of the other ones. And as cool as the N’Finity Pro HDX 374 Double Door Wine Cellar was, the size and price were just too big a drawback. $5200 was too much to pay for something so difficult to fit into our home.

That left the Avanti 149 Dual Zone Wine Cooler and the NewAir AWR-1600DB Dual Zone Wine Cooler. These wine coolers were fairly comparable in terms of  storage capacity, cooling power, and price. For obvious reasons, we have a soft spot for the NewAir AWR-1600DB. It has all the extra features we like: gold lighting, easy access shelves, and a dual temp LCD display, not to mention sturdy construction. If you prefer blue lighting, the zone indicators, and exterior control panels, then Avanti is the wine cooler for you. We liked them, just not enough to pick them over the NewAir AWR-1600DB. It’s the one we trust more.

Best Bang for Your Buck

If price is a factor, if you’re looking for the lowest cost for the largest storage space, then the EdgeStar 173 Bottle Glass Door Wine Cabinet is what you need. You won’t be able to find a better deal for a wine cooler no matter how hard you look.