wine cellar/refridgerator

[californiagirl]

I could use a little input. I currently only have a 34 bottle Haier wine fridge, and got the okay to get something a little bigger. I plan on keeping what I have. I'd like to have max storage b/w 100-175 bottles. I'm thinking 2 or so cases long term storage, (7-10yrs+), 3-4 cases moderate storage, (4-7yrs), and the rest for everyday. <P>I've already done a little research. Obvious choice is a Eurocave, but is the $$ worth it? I was looking at the Comfort 170. Wine Enthusiast lists at $1695 with no bells/whistles. I believe the Haier has a 93 bottle model, around $799. Franklin chef has a 100 model for $699. Vineutemp(sp) has one around the size also. <P>I've searched amazon.com and bizrate.com.<P>Most say humidity controled or auto defrost feature. Which is better? I want the most bang for the buck, (doesn't everyone?). But really unsure which direction to go. <P>If it helps, my long term agers are Ridge Montebello Cab, Jones Family Cab, Lewelling Cab, Grgich Hills Cab & Zin, Paraduxx , and a few others.

[tandkvd]

I have about the same unit, 34 bottle Haier. I have never investigated the larger units that say they are humidity controled. I would be interested in knowing how they control humidity. For total humidity control, to keep humidity up you would need a water line to feed water to add humidity. Dehumidification is done automaticaly by the refrigeration process. <P>Just something I have wandered about.

[chittychattykathy]

CG<BR>All of mine are under 100 bottles cap. and were gifts--so I am not much help in the selection department, I just plug them in. <BR>Will ask a few friends that have put the time into researching/purchasing larger ones how they came about their decision.<BR>Believe that Hotwine bought one a while back and am sure that WW is going to have tons of onfo for you.<BR>CCK

[hotwine]

CG, I HAD to buy the EuroCave 260 w/ "extreme" option because it was to be placed in the garage, where summer temps can hit 90 or so. If your unit will be kept in an air conditioned space, where the unit's environment has a temp no higher than 75F, you have more options than I had. But keep in mind that most wine fridges can handle a temp differential (between its environment and its target temp) of no more than 20F; and they exhaust heat. As I remember Sacramento in the early '70's, it can get mighty hot there.... a lot like this area of S. Texas.<P>Just checked conditions in my little 34-btl Haier in the laundry room and they show 61F and 72% RH. Moved the instrument to the EuroCave and will post those figs shortly.

[hotwine]

The EuroCave is reading 55F and 72% RH.<P>Something else about my EC that's not obvious.... although the model number is the 260 1-Temp (implying a capacity of 260 bottles), that number is cut 'way down by the "extreme" option and the replacement of all fixed shelves with sliding redwood shelves. The net result is a reduction to about 160 bottles, with no more than half a dozen of those being Burgs and another half dozen being Champagnes, and all the rest being Bord style. The purchase price from Wine Enthusiast in Jan '01 was $2819, of which $330 was shipping.

[hotwine]

The instrument is now settled down at 54F and 68% RH. The digital display on the EC itself shows a temp of 55F, but there is no measurement (or control) of RH.

[californiagirl]

hotwine- <P>My Haier is in my dining room/kitchen. I keep the temp set to 53deg, and it tends to fluctuate about 4 deg +/-. My house temp is never more than 75deg. I would plan on the new one being in the house also. <P>Hope that helps.

[chittychattykathy]

Redwood, classy.<BR> <IMG SRC="http://wines.com/ubb2/wink.gif">

[californiagirl]

How important is humidity control? Should it be a feature to look for?<P>I found what I perceive to be a new Haier model, (since they don't list it on their web site)- the Afficiano series. So far, I have located a 34 bottle and a 52 bottle with temp and humidity control. The web site, (not Haieramerica.com), claims that humidity should be b/w 50-70% for long term storage. (www.winecabinets.com)- found the Haier model at beveragefactory.com.

[winoweenie]

Sorry CG I'm absolutely no help as I had my son-in-law, now ex, come down from Denver to build my cellar and it has its' own refrigeration/humidity unit and fan. IMHO humidity plays a large role in long-term storage, espacially here in the desert. One of my budies bought a used 600 bottle cellar that he's very pleased with. Paid close to the grand you're talking about for the 100. Check around with some of the wine shops in Sac and see. Lots of guys get in and out of this insanity quickly. WW

[hotwine]

Spotted a 102-btl Haier unit in Costco yesterday for $699. Dunno if it has RH control.

[Thomas]

Finally, I can gloat! We may not have the best of weather in the winter, but my cellar is natural stone foundation, with a little room cut out in a corner for wine storage. Being a cellar, humidity is a-ok. Temp gets a little cooler in winter than in summer, but not so much as changes the wine any.<P>If you don't count the rest of the house and land, I paid nothing for my wine cellar...

[bigredwines]

CG, about 4 months ago I purchased a vino temp cabinet(redwood racks) that is suppose to hold up to 600 bottles. many of the bottles i have are long so the result is a little over 400 because you can not double stack.I purchased mine used thru my local bottle shop.Just thru conversation I let them know what I was looking for and they found it. turned out I paid 1200 for it .it is a very nice furniture quality box. turned out that the cooling unit had a freon leak.The previous owner of the unit and the bottle shop owner and myself struck a deal and I paid another 200 and I was shipped a brand new cooling unit from wine mate industries. I AM VERY HAPPY WITH MY STORAGE CABINET. It maintains temp @ 53-55 degrees and humidity is 45-55. I wish I could get the humidity up to 60% but living in the desert I don't think it is gonna happen.I said all this to really say I think your best place to find A DEAL on a unit is your local wine store.Another idea that you might want to consider is when you buy a larger unit keep your smaller one for staging what you are going to drink in the next few weeks. This eliminates opening your larger unit to often.Good luck remember it is better to have to much space than not enough when it comes to wine

[BCAtlanta]

hotwine, you said the RH in your Haier was 72%. Are you doing anything to get it that high? I have a 42-bottle Haier that keeps the humidity below 40%. I have placed cups of water inside, getting the humidity to range between 50% and 70%. How can I get it higher?

[hotwine]

Welcome to the board, BC. Wish I had some magic technique to pass on about keeping RH in the right zone, but just don't have it. It stays right where it's supposed to without me lifting a finger. The Haier is in the laundryroom, so maybe the humidity is a little higher in there anyway; and that unit only stays about half-full, since it's used as a way-station between the cellar (or EuroCave) and the dinnertable.<P>If the cups of water you're placing in your unit get the RH to stay in the 50-70% range, I think you should keep doing what you're doing. I look on 70% as the max of the "ideal" range of 60-70%. Any higher, and you'll begin to see your labels littering the bottom of the fridge.

[AlexS]

I have a write up on Haier's 42 bottle wine celler which states " ...Like Haier's other units, the cellar incorporates a 5 to 7 degree differential from the top to bottom shelf..." Does anyone know if that statement is accurate and, if so, can both red and white wines be stored in their units simultaneously?

[hotwine]

Welcome to the board, Alex.<BR>The temp in the Haier 34-bottle unit that I have actually fluctuates about a mean; so if you set the thermostat to 57F, it will cycle from a low of about 54F to a high of 61F, more of less. And there is indeed a variation from the top to the bottom shelf; I've not measured it, but just placed a Radio Shack gauge in there to obtain a reading on the top shelf, and it now reads 63F; the thermostat is set on 57F. I don't use the Haier for long-term storage because of its temperature instability.<P>The ideal storage temperature for wines, both white and red, is 55-57F, with 60-70% humidity. It's the serving temperatures for each that are different, with whites generally being served at cooler temps than reds. So if you want your wines to be near serving temperatures at all times, you could place your whites on the lower shelves of the Haier, and your reds on the upper shelves; although most reds benefit from a serving temp in the 60-65 range, and many whites are better in the 50-55 range. So the Haier won't give you ideal serving conditions for either, but most Haier users are probably happy enough with their performance. (My comments only apply to the 34-bottle unit; have no experience with any other Haier model.)<P>(Placed a Burgundy on the top shelf this afternoon to serve with grilled salmon tonight, so the temp variance will be put to good use.)

[californiagirl]

hotwine-<P>well, after much deliberating, 2 months ago I purchased the 52 bottle Haier Aficiando with temp and humidity reads and control. Needless to say, the past month plus, I've been dealing with Haier b/c the humidity has been reading b/w 88-99%. After countless calls to the manufacturer, I got smart and called the company I bought it from. Calls back & forth b/w them and Haiers Nat. Acct. Mgr, I'm supposed to get a new unit on Tuesday.... we'll see. (They offered to do repairs after the first 4 calls. The first 2 places refused to do warranty work for Haier, and the last was a discontinued phone number.) Hopefully all that is a fluke, and the next one will be a- okay.<P>I must say, my Costco- 34 bottle Haier is performing much better compared to the new and improved model. <p>[This message has been edited by californiagirl (edited 10-15-2004).]

[hotwine]

CG, sorry to hear about your problems with the new toy. Suggest you double-check the RH reading the unit is giving you by placing another instrument inside on one of the shelves. Radio Shack has several little widgets that measure both temp and relative humidity that are great for verifying that your unit's gauges aren't lying to you.

[californiagirl]

Yee Haa!!! <P> Finally, after having my 4th Haier replacement, (yes 4th), I have success!!! Humidity today at 72%! Out of all four of the same models... that's the lowest humidity reading yet.<P>My wine is happy!