Wine Cooler vs Fridge: What Does Your Wine Deserve?
If you want to enjoy your wine to its fullest potential it's really important that:
- It's stored at a constant temperature
- Constant humidity
- Protected from light
- Shielded from vibrations
- Ventilated
- Kept away from odors.
Although a refrigerator is great at cooling food it's not ideal for storing wine. Not for long periods anyway.
Let's compare a wine cooler vs a fridge to find out where they differ and why you shouldn't keep your wine with your food.
#1 Constant Temperature
The best storage temperature for wine should be around 55°F.
The wine cabinet has professional precision compressors and temperature controllers, which are very accurate and stable for temperature control.
You can even set different temperatures in different zones.
Although the temperature in a refrigerator can be set too, it's often not all that accurate. My refrigerator just has a dial with 5 settings on it for example.
There's also the fact that your refrigerator is being constantly opened and closed as people grab food and drinks throughout the day.
That causes temperature fluctuations that are not conducive to good wine storage practice.
#2 Humidity
The proper humidity is essential for storage. The humidity level of wine in storage should generally be kept at 60%-70%.
If the humidity is too high, it could cause mold at the mouth of the bottle which will affect the quality of the wine.
If the humidity is too low, the cork on the wine bottle will shrink. This allows oxygen to enter the bottle and spoil the wine.
#3 Vibrations
Vibrations cause the sediment in a bottle to be unsettled. This can cause unwanted chemical reactions to take place. This has a considerable impact on the wine's aging and negatively impacts the taste.
A traditional fridge causes quite a buzzing sound sometimes and this is the compressor causing vibrations.
A wine refrigerator uses a special compressor to eliminate vibrations. It works slowly and smoothly and does not directly contact the main body of the wine cabinet, greatly reducing these vibrations.
#4 UV protection
Ultraviolet light also has a great influence on the maturity and aging of the wine. If exposed to strong sunlight for long periods, it is enough to cause the wine to deteriorate.
Good wine fridges have double-layer UV protected glass doors, which can effectively prevent the UV light from affecting the quality of the wine.
How to Store Wine in a Wine Cooler
When using a wine cooler to preserve wine, you need to pay attention to the following:Final Thoughts
The only time you should have wine in your fridge is when it is being chilled immediately before serving. Otherwise, the result of wine cooler vs fridge always comes out on the side of the purpose built cooler.
Traditional fridges are great at what they do, but that's not cooling wine.
If you're serious about wine and have a growing collection then a wine fridge could be a great investment on your part.
It'll keep your collection in tip-top condition and take the guess work out of setting temperatures and humidity levels.
