Yahoo Sports The 6 Best Wine Fridges of 2023
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After surveying 280 people, we found the highest-rated wine fridge brands and models.
Real Simple / Marcus Millan
If you’re the kind of wine drinker who enjoys keeping perfectly chilled wine on hand, investing in a wine fridge can be a seriously worthwhile move. Not only will the fridge provide organized storage space for all of your bottles, it will also keep them safe from any light, temperature, and humidity that could otherwise damage their quality.
“For anyone seriously invested in wine, a wine fridge is more than a place to keep wine; it's a storage facility that can accommodate expensive or age-worthy bottles,” says Hannah Selinger, certified sommelier and James Beard Award-nominated journalist. “Even amateur wine lovers can benefit from moderate storage by protecting their everyday wine from damage.”
Furthermore, “wine fridges are useful to keep wines at the perfect ‘cellar’ temperature,” explains Laura Donadoni, a wine journalist, educator, and certified sommelier. “Also, wine fridges have special racking technology to secure bottles and to store them in the ideal horizontal position.”
If you think your home would benefit from a wine fridge, you’re in luck—we researched the best ones on the market and found options in a range of sizes, price ranges, and uses. We also surveyed 280 people on their wine fridges, and selected all our product recommendations based on those survey insights.
Best Overall Wine Fridge: Frigidaire FRWW2432AV 24-Bottle Freestanding Wine Cooler
Buy at Appliancesconnection.com
What Stands Out
It’s simple and easy to use with electronic controls.
What Could Be Improved
It’s only single-zone, which might be a con for some people.
Out of all the wine fridge brands mentioned in our survey, Frigidaire was the most popular—and this specific model stood out the most. It’s a spacious, 24-bottle fridge that features removable shelves so you can store the bottles or cans however you like, and it keeps them perfectly cool with the single-zone adjustable temperature control.
Frigidaire is one of the most popular wine fridge brands on the market, and it’s no wonder; its fridges are known for their clear display and attractive design, among other features, and this model is no exception. The elegant, all-black fridge is good for storing red, white, and sparkling wines along with canned beverages, with a perfectly-set temperature range from 41-65 degrees. You can easily control the temperature with the control panel, and you can also use the fridge’s built-in LED lighting to get a clear look at all the bottles inside.
This isn’t the cheapest wine fridge on our list, and the lack of dual-zone control might be a turnoff for some shoppers. But if you’re looking for a simple and reliable wine fridge that’ll work well year after year, it’s absolutely a great pick.
Price at time of publish: $279
Dimensions: 19.1 x 17.2 x 25.3 | Capacity: 24 bottles | Zones: 1 | Temperature Range: 41-65 degrees Fahrenheit
Best Budget Wine Fridge: Wine Enthusiast 6-Bottle Wine Cooler
What Stands Out
It runs very quietly and provides easy access to the bottles.
What Could Be Improved
Its very small size won’t be good for those with large collections.
If you don’t want to spend a lot on a wine fridge, or don’t have a large collection, then we have the wine fridge for you. This model from Wine Enthusiast offers high-quality storage for a notably low price, and it’s compact enough to fit in any home (even on a countertop!) without taking up too much space.
At only eight pounds, this is an extremely lightweight and small wine fridge, making it a great choice for people with tiny kitchens and/or minimal wine collections. It can hold up to six standard-size bottles, storing them on secure metal racks that are easily accessible to take in or out. You can control the fridge’s temperature via the digital LED touchscreen, and as another perk, you’ll barely hear the fridge running thanks to its quiet, energy-efficient cooling.
Of course, this fridge’s tiny size means it’s not a good choice for anyone with a large wine collection. But you can rest assured that it’s top-quality, as Wine Enthusiast fridges are loved for their steady temperature and ease of setup, among other aspects.
Price at time of publish: $129
Dimensions: 9.3 x 19.7 x 14.7 inches | Capacity: 6 bottles | Zones: 1 | Temperature Range: 46-64 degrees Fahrenheit
Best Dual-Zone Wine Fridge: Wine Enthusiast 32-Bottle Dual Zone MAX Compressor Wine Cooler
What Stands Out
It has a display shelf on the bottom for easy access to a few bottles.
What Could Be Improved
It’s quite expensive and fairly large.
Another great option from Wine Enthusiast is this large dual-zone fridge, which can fit an impressive 32 bottles and cans on its sleek and sturdy chrome wire racks. If you have a medium-to-large wine collection and want to store your red wine at a different temperature than your white and rosé wine, this fridge will be a great addition to your home.
In addition to the benefits of dual-zone cooling, this great wine fridge also offers a handy digital LED touchscreen that you can use to control the temperatures, whether you’re setting two different ones or just one to use for the entire fridge. The machine is also noteworthy for how quietly it runs, as well as for its energy-efficient design, which will help save you money on your bills in the long run. There’s also a display shelf on the bottom, where you can put two or three bottles for immediate access.
Because of this fridge’s larger size, it’s not going to be the best fit for anyone who’s lacking in kitchen space or who simply doesn’t have a lot of wine they need to store, and it’s also very pricey. But if you can handle its heft and cost, then you’ll be glad you invested in this excellent machine.
Price at time of publish: $499
Dimensions: 19.5 x 17 x 33.5 inches | Capacity: 32 bottles | Zones: 2 | Temperature Range: 41-64 degrees Fahrenheit
Best Large Wine Fridge: Vinotemp 110-Bottle Dual-Zone Touch Screen Wine Cooler
What Stands Out
It has a sophisticated design and comes with a security lock.
What Could Be Improved
It’s very pricey, and not everyone will love the bright LED light.
Got a seriously impressive wine collection? Then take a look at this extra-large fridge, which is big enough to hold a whopping 110 bottles on its shelves. Weighing over 130 pounds, this isn’t a unit for casual wine fans or people with limited kitchen space, but if you have the interest and the room, then you’ll love what this fridge offers.
For one thing, this fridge has dual-zone cooling, so you can store your reds separately from your whites and rosés and keep every bottle at its ideal temperature. Then there’s the fridge’s sophisticated design, with its black frameless cabinetry, recessed handle, and all-glass front. The inside is just as elegant, with smooth black metal shelves highlighted by a blue, glowing LED light so you can see all your bottles clearly.
Additionally, you can adjust the fridge’s temperatures through its digital control panel, and keep it protected via a security lock and key. That said, this is by far the most expensive wine fridge on our list, and the brightness of the LED light might be unappealing for those who want a more subtle look from their appliances.
Price at time of publish: $1,699
Dimensions: 23.5 x 26.8 x 51.7 inches | Capacity: 110 bottles | Zones: 2 | Temperature Range: 45-72 degrees Fahrenheit
Best Built-In Wine Fridge: NewAir Built-in 46 Bottle Dual Zone Wine Fridge
What Stands Out
It’s quieter than many other wine fridges.
What Could Be Improved
There’s no display area for easy access to bottles.
While there are certainly benefits to freestanding wine fridges, built-in ones like this model from Newair are great for people who want the machines to fit in snugly and subtly with the rest of their kitchen decor. But if you prefer to use it as a freestanding fridge, you can do that, too; it’s designed to work either way.
This is a pretty large fridge, with the ability to fit up to 46 bottles. It features dual-zone cooling, making it a smart choice for people who collect both red and white wines, and Newair’s notably quiet compressor is known for ensuring that fridge temperatures stay constant for each type of wine. The sleek black-and-silver fridge also features an insulated (and UV-protected!) glass door to help keep your bottles safe, as well as beech wood shelves that are removable so you can arrange the bottles however you want. Plus, you can adjust the fridge’s settings via a digital temperature control panel on top.
As far as negatives go, the fridge’s lights are very bright, and there’s no display area for easy access to a few bottles. That said, this fridge offers very solid storage and a built-in design that’ll appeal to many people.
Price at time of publish: $900
Dimensions: 23.5 x 24 x 33 inches | Capacity: 46 bottles | Zones: 2 | Temperature Range: 40-66 degrees Fahrenheit
Best Beverage Center Wine Fridge: KitchenAid KUBR214KSB 24-Inch Beverage Center
Buy at Appliancesconnection.com
What Stands Out
The shelves are adjustable, and the LED light is motion-activated.
What Could Be Improved
It’s very expensive and not especially large.
Want a wine fridge that’s also just as good at storing non-alcoholic drinks and even food? Consider this highly-rated model from KitchenAid, which not only has room for 14 wine bottles, but also has room below the racks to hold other beverages and snacks galore.
KitchenAid is known for its fridges’ temperature consistency, and this unit sports both dual-zone temperature control (so all your items can be cooled consistently at the precisely right degree) as well as a temperature monitoring system that’ll alert you if there’s ever an issue. Additionally, the fridge features motion-activated LED lighting (so you won’t have to deal with the bright light at all times, unlike many other fridges) and a helpful door alarm that’ll go off if the fridge is left open for too long.
Other great aspects of this fridge include the fact that you can adjust the metal shelves, as well as the UV-protected glass door designed to keep your items safe from the sun’s rays. And there’s a temperature control panel worked right into the fridge, so you can adjust the settings as needed. This may not be the biggest fridge (or the cheapest), but it has a seriously large number of benefits.
Price at time of publish: $2,474
Dimensions: 23.8 x 26.4 x 34.3 inches | Capacity: 14 bottles | Zones: 2 | Temperature Range: 42-64 degrees Fahrenheit
Final Verdict
For an overall excellent wine fridge ideal for mid-sized collectors, the Frigidaire FRWW2432AV 24-Bottle Wine Cooler wins our top spot, thanks to its stylish look and easy-to-use display. For a lower-priced alternative, we recommend the Wine Enthusiast 6-Bottle Wine Cooler, a small but convenient fridge that runs very quietly.
How We Made Our Recommendations
To determine the best wine fridges, we specifically chose products from brands that were the most highly recommended in a large scale survey we conducted. This survey had 280 respondents, and asked questions pertaining to setup, portability, performance, durability, and overall value. We also asked respondents to identify their favorite and least favorite features of their fridge, and the most important feature they looked for when shopping for a wine fridge.
Out of 280 respondents, the clear winners were Frigidaire, KitchenAid, Cuisinart, Wine Enthusiast, NewAir, Vinotemp, and Magic Chef. When broken down, we found that Wine Enthusiast had the highest scores when it came to setup and overall satisfaction; Vinotemp had the highest scores for performance and durability; and Cuisinart beat the competition in terms of ease of movement.
Taking these considerations into account, we evaluated a range of wine fridges from the top brands, and selected our recommendations accordingly.
How to Shop for Wine Fridges Like a Pro
Type
Wine fridges are either built-in to your cabinet space or freestanding. “Because all models have different bottle count configurations, it's not like one type is necessarily better than the other,” says certified sommelier Hannah Selinger. But there are some key differences that’ll help you choose the right option for you.
Built-in units “are built into existing kitchen infrastructure–typically undercounter, though some are full-sized,” says Selinger. They’re best for those who have an empty cabinet space to fill, want a more compact fridge, and are willing to spend a bit more. Built-in models also “give a kitchen a much more finished look, since cabinetry can be configured around them,” notes Selinger.
Freestanding fridges, meanwhile, “can be moved and are more like a regular refrigerator,” says Selinger. “Some are even small enough to be kept on a kitchen counter.” If you want a fridge that can go in any space around your home and tends to be both bigger and less expensive, a freestanding unit may be the way to go.
Single vs. Dual Zone
Wine fridges come with either single-zone or dual-zone cooling. If a wine fridge is single zone, that means there’s one temperature setting for all the bottles included, whether they’re red or white. Dual zone fridges, however, let you set different temperatures for each type of wine, so you can make sure they’re cooled and aged to perfection. “This can be beneficial if you prefer keeping white wines at a cooler temp than red wines, so that when you pull them out to drink they are automatically ready,” says Selinger.
Still, there are some drawbacks to dual-zone fridges, she notes. “Often, there is not enough space allocated in one unit for all the wine you need, and it can be a jigsaw puzzle to get everything you need into one section,” Selinger explains. “Sometimes, it's better to just settle on a single-zone unit and bring a wine up to temp or down to temp.”
Size
Wine fridges come in a wide variety of sizes, and which one you pick depends on the space you have available in your home, as well as how many wines you want to store. “Short units house about 30-50 bottles, and tall units house about 100-200 bottles,” Selinger says, although she notes that it’s just an approximate since bottles come in all different sizes. For instance, “Burgundy and Champagne bottles (and magnums and other large-format bottles) take up more space than Bordeaux bottles,” she notes.
If you’re a frequent wine drinker and/or have a lot of extra space, opt for a larger fridge, but a smaller fridge might be perfectly fine for those who only need to store a few bottles and/or those who don't have much space to spare.
Features
Many wine fridges come with helpful extra features such as humidity controls to prevent any temperature issues, alarms to let you know if something has gone wrong, and even locks on the doors to prevent children from gaining access. Most fridges also boast features like touchscreen controls, LED lighting (to help with label visibility), and adjustable, sliding racks, so you can move around the bottles as needed and fit ones of all different sizes. Selinger also recommends looking for fridges that offer humidity control, to help with “long-term preservation” of the bottles.
Questions You Might Ask
What are the benefits of having a wine fridge?
One of the top perks of a wine fridge is the built-in temperature control, “which is not only good for preservation but also for serving the wines at the right temperature,” says certified sommelier Laura Donadoni. If you want to open a bottle at the last minute, she explains, “it’s way easier to have it at the right temperature than to have to cool it down quickly from room temperature with ice and water.”
Wine fridges are also great “for keeping your collection organized,” she adds, since they have shelving meant specifically for storing wine. “Additionally, if you plan on collecting wine and want to keep it in optimal conditions for aging, a wine fridge may be a worthwhile purchase,” says Donadoni.
Do wine fridges control humidity?
The vast majority of them do, explains Donadoni. “Most of them have the humidity control feature, which keeps the humidity level around 60-70 percent. This prevents the cork (if natural) from drying out excessively,” she says.
What temperature should a wine fridge be?
That depends on the type of wine you’re storing, and if the wine fridge has dual temperature control, says Donadoni. In general, wine fridges are “specifically designed to keep wine between 45 to 65 degrees Fahrenheit,” she explains, “and if your wine fridge doesn’t have a dual temperature control, it is recommended to set it at 58 to 60 degrees.” But if you are able to set separate temperatures for whites and reds, Donadoni suggests aiming for “around 45 to 55 degrees for whites, 55 to 65 degrees for reds.”
What is the difference between a wine cooler and a wine refrigerator?
Although the terms “wine cooler” and “wine fridge” are often used interchangeably, there are some key differences between the two devices. Wine fridges are units that provide temperature consistency and humidity control to ensure long-term wine storage, and many of them are large enough to house a few dozen bottles that may not be taken out for months or years.
Wine coolers, on the other hand, tend to be smaller units that are designed for short-term wine storage. Their temperatures may fluctuate more due to a lack of insulation, so you wouldn’t want to keep bottles in them for years on end. However, they’re often cheaper, quieter, and more compact, making them good for smaller homes.
Take Our Word for It
This article was written by Rachel Simon, a writer for Better Homes & Gardens, Real Simple, The New York Times, and many other publications. She frequently covers home products and did significant research on wine fridges for this story, including speaking to Laura Donadoni, a wine journalist, educator, and certified sommelier, and Hannah Selinger, a certified sommelier and journalist. We also conducted a survey to determine the best wine fridge brands, which received 280 responses and covered everything from setup, ease of movement, performance, durability, and overall value.
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