We recommend the freestanding Wine Enthusiast Classic 80 Wine Cellar (which stores wine at one temperature) and the Wine Enthusiast Classic 70 Dual Zone Wine Cellar (which has two sections, for storing wine at different temperatures, and one less shelf). For serious collectors, the freestanding EuroCave Premiere S is an excellent basic model from a top brand whose wine fridges are known for their durability. If you’re on a budget but you still want the best, you can also look for a used model.
Our pick
If you want to store several cases at a time, the Wine Enthusiast Classic 80 Wine Cellar offers the best combination of capacity and price. And this company has some of the finest customer service we found.
The Wine Enthusiast Classic 80 Wine Cellar offers a winning combination of storage capacity, price, warranty, and features from a trusted brand with great customer service. Because it’s a single-zone fridge (meaning the whole thing stays at one temperature), the Classic 80 can hold more bottles than a dual-zone fridge of the same size (that space is lost to the zone divider).
The Classic 80 may seem expensive compared with a regular mini fridge or a big-box-store-brand wine cooler, but it’s still more reasonable than a lot of smaller, high-quality wine fridges we looked at. (According to the many wine experts we spoke with, there are a couple of universal rules for buying a wine fridge: Get one that’s double the size you think you want, and keep in mind that fridges will always hold less than promised due to different bottle sizes.)
Wine Enthusiast offers phone consultations to help you shop. It specializes in wine fridges and accessories, whereas other retailers may not have this specific knowledge. Wine Enthusiast offers in-home delivery for larger fridges (for $300), and the company has solid customer service and warranty options.
Also great
Not everyone wants a dual-zone fridge, but this model will keep your reds and whites ready to drink at the right temperature. But it sacrifices some storage space.
If you want the extra convenience of separate compartments for reds and whites (allowing you to store them at their ideal serving temperatures), we recommend the Wine Enthusiast Classic 70 Dual Zone.
It’s the same price and has the same features as the Classic 80, but the Classic 70 allows you to keep wines at different temperatures.
It has one less shelf, though. Some experts told us that dual-zone fridges may be more likely to fail and have a harder time maintaining consistent temperatures, though most wines should be fine under slight fluctuations.
Upgrade pick
Six of the experts we spoke with recommended EuroCave as the top wine-fridge maker. The EuroCave Premiere S is the most basic option from the restaurant-quality line, and it’s freestanding, so you can put it anywhere.
The EuroCave Premiere S has been replaced with a similar model, the EuroCave La Première S Wine Cellar. The new model has an advertised 98-bottle capacity (though wine fridges tend to hold less than what they say they will). It also has a hygrometer, which its predecessor did not, and improved lighting. We plan to evaluate it.
Beloved by sommeliers, top chefs, and wine lovers, EuroCave’s cellars and fridges sit in swanky hotels and prestigious restaurants around the world, and they have a reputation for lasting upwards of a decade.
EuroCave makes tons of wine fridges, some of which cost as much as a car. The 74-bottle EuroCave Premiere S (the company’s base-level option) is one of the best fridges for protecting a small collection.
This fridge has the standout, signature EuroCave features, including removable, adjustable-height shelves with cradles, which accommodate different bottle shapes and sizes (from broad-shouldered cabs to round-bellied Champagnes to elongated rieslings). Plus, the Premiere S has an option for a solid door to shield bottles from light, which is a feature many fridges lack. The Premiere S has a one-year warranty, with a five-year warranty on the compressor—one of the most generous policies we found in our research. This fridge is also sold by Wine Enthusiast, so it comes with the same options for consultation and delivery assistance as our other picks.
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