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Buying A Compact Wine Refrigerator To Store A Wine Collection
By OnTopic | February 17, 2010
Whether your an passionate wine collector or just like to have a few bottles available for a party, a compact wine refrigerator is an ideal way to store your wine. With wine cooler capacity ranging from eight bottles up to 800 bottles, a compact wine refrigerator can fit beneath a kitchen cabinet and a larger one can be placed against a wall. Dual zone wine fridges can be used to store different wine types at different temperatures for drinking now or for longer-term storage and aging.
For the many people who do not have the space to build a mini wine cellar, a compact wine refrigerator can provide an ideal solution. A compact under-counter wine refrigerator will store wines at the ideal wine temperature and it should also be remembered that even those wines that are best served at room temperature should be stored in a cool environment prior to opening to protect the integrity of the wine.
The advantage of a compact dual zone wine refrigerator is its ability to store different types of wines in the same fridge. The recommended storage temperature for white wines is between 46 and 54 degrees Farenheit and for red wines it is 54 to 64 degrees Farenheit. As well as offering best practice temperature control, a wine refrigerator also maintains the correct humidity for wine storage.
Most wine lovers understand that they must treat their wines with respect and avoid vibration to the bottles to protect their wine. Any good quality wine refrigerator should be free from vibration and some of the better wine refrigerators are now beginning to use LED lighting in the interior to further protect the wine from deterioration.
Even low wattage bulbs can increase the temperature in an enclosed space like a compact wine refrigerator. Wines should ideally be stored in darkness, so the use of LED lights that do not emit any appreciable heat will assist in creating a better environment. Regardless of the type of lights you have, you should only open the wine refrigerator when necessary.
Most compact wine refrigerators utilize metal racks – the bottles are stored tilted slightly towards the opening end to ensure the corks remain in contact with the wine. Regardless of the space available for a wine refrigerator, tall, slender units that can hold up to a dozen bottles or larger furniture-sized units with a capacity of many hundreds of bottles can protect the wines from environmental hazards that can alter their taste, hasten their aging and reduce their overall appeal.
At his wine blog – ChrisOnWine – Chris Miley occasionally mentions wine refrigerators amongst many other wine topics.
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