Wine Fridges and Wine Cabinets

One of the biggest areas of confusion among wine collectors and enthusiasts are wine refrigerators and wine cabinets. Many novice wine lovers think that wine fridges are quite sufficient for storing and aging wines. Wine refrigerators, however, have a totally different purpose.

Wine Fridges

Wine fridges, sometimes called wine coolers or wine caves, are intended to chill your wine to the perfect serving temperature. These appliances are smaller than an entire cellar but can be as big as a regular size refrigerator or as small as a dorm fridge. This is where you keep the wines you plan to drink during a short time frame. Sometimes, you can keep as much as a year’s supply in a wine fridge. Sometimes, they will only hold what you would drink in a month or less.

Like regular fridges for your food, these appliances keep the humidity low (usually under 50%). This is below the optimal range of about 50% to 70%. This lower humidity can dry out corks over time and shrink them, allowing oxygen to enter the bottle and reduce the quality of the wine. You can monitor temperature and humidity in a wine fridge by using a special gauge inside the fridge.