Wine refrigerators are becoming cheaper and more widely available, from discount wine refrigerators to the more advanced dual-zone wine refrigerators. 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 wine 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 refrigerator. But most whites prefer just a couple of hours in the refrigerator or wine cooler, ideally upright in the door or wine cooler.
Wine refrigerators come in many styles and sizes, from mini 16 inch deep wine refrigerators, as produced by Avanti wine refrigerators, through to large sixteen bottle wine refrigerators from manufacturers such as Danby wine refrigerators, and finally to wine cellar refrigerators. When considering the purchase of a wine refrigerator it is important to consider that one of the major discussion points in the world of wine is the temperature at which it is best served. In general terms most red wines are usually served too warm whilst most whites are served too cold. Indeed it is becoming more accepted that in summertime red wines should be chilled to tighten up the taste and to make them more refreshing, something which is certainly the case for rosés. Whatever the rights and wrongs in terms of temperature, it is important to know how to chill a bottle correctly.
So, in the absence of a wine refrigerator, how do we use the ice bucket?
Firstly fill the ice bucket one third full with ice cubes straight from the freezer, then lay the bottle of wine on top of the cubes. Next place the bucket under a flow of cold water from the faucet until the ice cubes loosen up enough for the bottle to fall through the cubes to the bottom of the bucket. Turn off the faucet as you now have the ideal amount of water. Now for the magic ingredient. By adding a tablespoonful of salt the water has its melting point lowered from 0 degrees Celsius to minus 10 degrees Celsius. Although the ice cubes will melt much quicker, the overall effect will be to make the bucket much colder. As a result the bucket and its water will effectively chill a bottle of wine in less than five minutes. Conversely a bucket prepared with no ice will take twice as long to chill whereas a bucket with just ice and no water at all, like those presented at most hotels and restaurants nowadays, can take over twenty minutes to chill.
It is clear then that temperature plays a vital part in the enjoyment of wine and a wine refrigerator can aid this. Good results can be achieved from even cheap wine refrigerators like those available in the range provided by Marvel wine refrigerators. For the bigger wine collection a larger sixteen bottle wine refrigerator like those produced by Haier wine refrigerators and Avanti wine refrigerators are ideal, whereas the ultimate cellar wine refrigerator can be custom designed and fitted by such manufacturers as Danby wine refrigerators.
