Nobody can say for certain when it’s going happen…but happen it will.
Sooner or later, somewhere along the road in your discovery of the pleasures of wine, you come to the realization that you’re going to need more space.
As you collection of various bottles grows, so too does your need for a proper place to store them.
As you search for who makes a great wine cooler to house your collection, consider this offering from a company aptly-named Wine Enthusiast.
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Two Temperatures
It offers two temperature zones – each containing up to 16 bottles of your favorite wine.
If you’re split on what’s best – white or red wine – or, your spouse prefers one type and you the opposite – this wine cooler could be the ideal answer.
It holds real possibility – since there’s an even split in the quantities it holds.
In the upper level, the temperature ranges from 54°F to 66°F making it the perfect environment for all your red wines.
Meanwhile, the temperature in the bottom zone Adjusts from 46°F to 66°F. Since white wines are best served chilled, the lower half of this temperature range seems just about right.
The Wine Enthusiast 32- Bottle Wine Cooler is a freestanding unit that delivers “silent cooling technology” and in a range that – according to the experts – is perfect for storing and even aging any wine properly.
As with most freestanding coolers, this one comes in a black finish with a dual-pane glass door front. It ships with the usual 120 V cord, so you can plug it into any standard outlet.
The door hinges on the right side and it features a full-view glass door that shows more of the contents of your wine fridge, allowing you to beautifully display your collection “at a glance”.
The LED interior lighting further enhances the view of the interior and helps showcase your entire collection.
Are Wine Coolers Noisy?
What makes the Wine Enthusiast wine fridge worthy of serious consideration is the thermoelectric, energy-efficient component that’s built right in.
If you’re bothered by the typical noise of a kitchen refrigerator and you would much prefer something a little quieter for your collection than I urge you to consider Wine Enthusiast’s “silent” 32 bottle touchscreen wine refrigerator.
In truth, there’s no such available device that is completely silent – some wine coolers are definitely quieter – and this is one of them.
What Wine Enthusiast is offering here is a classy appliance with a reflective, thermal pane, smoked glass door and recessed handle. The handle doesn’t stick out, which is something most buyers love about it.
There’s also stainless steel trim (though less of it than on most competing models) and its fine contemporary styling is something that will look great just about anywhere.
With a 32 bottle capacity, there’s plenty of room for most beginner collectors. Just be aware that if your enthusiasm for wine continues, your collection will most certainly grow as you explore new possibilities.
This means that you’ll eventually outgrow this compact, yet stellar wine fridge.
That’s not something you’ll normally see in the other Wine Enthusiast wine cooler reviews. But it’s something you should keep in your back pocket as you move forward. We highlight the bigger brother of this fridge (166 bottle capacity!) in our Ultimate Wine Refrigerator Buying Guide.
Size Does Matter
The overall size of the Wine Enthusiast 32-Bottle fridge is 15 3/4 inches wide by 20 3/16 inches deep by 32 1/2 inches high.
The top and both exterior sides are finished in solid black.
The front of the unit features a smoked glass door. Incidentally, this smoked glass door works in similar fashion the colored wine bottles in that it helps deflect light which can be damaging to wine.
Dress For Success
This unit is designed for use indoors and is not built to withstand the constant exposure to the UV rays from the sun.
A standard room temperature of around 70 to 75° is best for any kind of wine refrigerator. This median temperature allows the cooler to operate without overloading the equipment.
This fine wine fridge is much too attractive to relegate to the garage or store room. And you’d be doing yourself (and your wine) a disservice to put it there since temperature variations are likely outside of the recommended parameters.
Find somewhere inside your home that has a steady temperature and you’ll get the best results. But you should also want to show it off just a little to your friends and family.
So it makes sense to put your wine refrigerator in the kitchen, dining room, or den. Man cave? Sure, that’s an option too – as long is the environment is right.
Chrome shelves inside are removable should you need to store larger bottles as part of your collection. But keep in mind that taking one shelf out minimizes the space you have available as storage.
The shelves in the Wine Enthusiast 32- Bottle Wine Cooler are not adjustable.
Give Your Wine Fridge Some Space
As with any wine chiller, you want to make sure you have plenty of air circulation around the device. Anything with a motor is going to generate some heat and that heat needs to be properly ventilated.
This model is a standalone design and therefore should not be incorporated into your kitchen or bar cabinets.
It’s okay to fit it at the end of a bank of cabinets – just don’t sandwich it between cabinets on both sides and always make sure there’s plenty of air flow.
For such a compact unit, the Wine Enthusiast 32-Bottle cooler is a versatile appliance. The dual cooling zones allow you to serve both red and white wine to your guests like a pro, at the “just right” temperature.
You have one compartment for your whites and another for your reds.
By setting the temperature correctly for each, you and your guests will enjoy wine the way it’s supposed to be enjoyed.
Take note that the fixed door is hinged on the right side and cannot be easily converted. So you want to make sure that it’s going to fit within your room and that the swing of the door won’t be a problem.
Don’t forget to check this out before you buy. If it works, great. If it doesn’t you’re probably better off with something else.
What’s on the Inside?
There are seven pullout chrome shelves in this wine fridge. These shelves are designed to pull out easily when empty so that you can load them without much hassle.
The action of pulling out of the fully-loaded shelf, however, is much more challenging. There’s one fixed shelf in the middle of the unit dividing the upper and lower sections.
How Many Bottles of Wine Will This Wine Enthusiast Cooler Actually Hold?
If all your wine bottles are the standard size, you should be able to fit in the specified 32 bottles – or close to it.
You need to know that most manufacturers state their capacity on the high-end. They seem to think it makes their unit look bigger and better.
But it can backfire in customer disappointment when it doesn’t work out quite so well – which can happen with larger bottles.
If for example half of your wine collection is a non-standard size such as Bordeaux-size bottles, your storage capacity may be reduced by as much as 25%.
If your collection features even more of these oversized bottles, capacity may be reduced as much as 40%. But if you stick to a standard wine bottle you should have no problem getting 16 bottles in each compartment – giving you 32 bottles in all.
The Bottom Line
To summarize, the Wine Enthusiast wine fridge is remarkably quiet and of good quality.
When you check out the wine enthusiast wine cooler reviews online you’ll notice that most people are quite happy with their purchase. That’s a good sign.
It’s also important when checking out any reviews that you separate the product review from the experience review. You want to assess the product and then buy from the most reliable supplier online.
While this is marketed as a silent machine – it’s not completely silent. But it’s not noticeably loud either.
There’s just a mild humming sound – much like the “white noise” in the background you here everywhere. It’s there. But it’s not enough to interrupt you.
A lot of wine coolers – and this one is no exception – tends to run a little quieter when it is not filled to maximum capacity. That’s another important point to keep in mind.
If you can live with a couple of bottles short of a full fridge, chances are your machine will operate a little quieter.
The Wine Enthusiast fridge is a charming piece. It’s an attractive wine cooler that fits well into just about any location. It looks great on any empty wall, beside the bar, or next to your dining room buffet.
And it helps you maintain peak temperatures of all your wines. It’s well-designed too – and that’s very important.
The Wine Enthusiast 32-bottle wine fridge is a reasonably priced, mid-size cooler that’s quality made. It has a solid look and feel to it and as a wine chiller, it performs quite well.
The bonus is that others have stated that it’s extremely energy efficient – so it should cost very little to operate.