Wine coolers are becoming cheaper and more widely available, from discount wine coolers to the more advanced dual-zone wine coolers. But are these wine coolers really necessary? It is important to understand the vital relationship between wine and the temperature at which it is served. If you have stored the wine cool, you may need to do no more than open and pour it . But if you are not sure, here are some guidelines. Cheap white wines can often spend days in the refrigerator and may even taste nicer for it, while cheap fizz is all the better for being close to freezing point, a good case for a wine cooler. But most whites prefer just a couple of hours in the refrigerator or wine cooler, ideally upright in the door or wine cooler.
Red wines can be chilled in a wine cooler, especially Beaujolais, Loire reds, and some of the fresh, light styles from southern France. Even so, one hour in the wine cooler is enough. Otherwise red wines , ports, madeiras and medium to sweet sherries are best served at 'room temperature' - a term introduced in the nineteenth century before the days of central heating in our homes! So don't overdo it; just stand the bottle for a few hours in the dining room before you eat. In a hurry, you can always warm red wine by cupping the glass in your hand; whatever you do, don't heat it artificially or in front of a fire because the alcohol starts to separate from the body of the wine and sabotages the flavour. So if your wine taste is predominantly red, then a wine cooler is only necessary if the climate is too hot.
Indeed in hot weather wine coolers can come into their own, especially portable wine coolers such as those produced by Avanti wine coolers. In hot weather all wines - red or white - will taste more refreshing slightly cooler, and a specialist wine cooler will add to the enjoyment of that summer picnic or barbeque.
So wine coolers are any type of appliance used in the chilling or cooling of wines. As with most wine accessories there is a wide range of models and styles of wine coolers. At the discount wine cooler end of the market are small table-top wine cooler units that can rapidly chill one or two bottles of wine, allowing the correct serving temperature to be reached on those hot summer days; particularly appropriate for those white, rosé or sparkling wines. Producers such as Danby wine coolers and Haier wine coolers produce models that serve this purpose.
At the other end of the wine cooler market are the larger refrigerator style units that have the room to store dozens of bottles of wine at selected temperatures. These types of wine coolers are ideal for those wine collectors who do not have access to a wine cellar, and allow exact temperature and humidity conditions to be set by use of a thermostat. Manufacturers such as Avanti wine coolers and Franklin Chef wine coolers produce models at this end of the market.
