Compare the Best Wine CoolersApril 2020

A wine cooler is a specialist fridge specifically designed for storing wine bottles, to allow them to be stored safely at the optimal temperature. They are a step up from a bottle store in your fridge - if you find your bottle collection taking over much of the fridge, or if you want your wine cooled to a very specific temperature, it may be time to invest in one of these appliances.

Wine coolers vary dramatically in their bottle capacity, and how much wine you want to store at once will large dictate your buying choice. Our coolers range from very small 2-bottle coolers - effectively very efficient ice buckets - to enormous cabinets that can hold 300 bottles at once. Coolers also vary enormously in their shape and the number of shelves/baskets they contain - some will allow wine to be stacked closely on top of each other for maximum storage room, others concentrate on less storage, but display the bottles in a more aesthetically pleasing way.

Temperature Control

One of the biggest benefit of a specialised wine cooler is that you can set the temperature to whatever you want - allowing you to keep your wine stored at a different temperature than the rest of your food in the fridge. This is helpful, because certain types of wine favour different temperature ranges, both for storing and drinking.

More advanced (and therefore, expensive) wine coolers also have separate temperature zones. You can set the temperatures in these zones independently of each other, allowing even more flexibility in storing your wine.

The top-range coolers may even have a humidifier unit installed - this allows a high degree of control as to the storage humidity for your bottles. Humidity control is important to keep expensive wines in top condition for long periods of time: too much humidity, and mold may form on the bottles. On the other hand, too little humidity could cause the corks of your bottles to dry out. While humidity control may substantially increase the price of a wine cooler, it may be worth the extra investment if your wine collection is particularly rare and expensive.

Built In Freezer

Some wine coolers also have a separate freezer section - this can be helpful for storing ice and whiskey cubes to chill the wine while you drink it, or a sneaky carton of ice-cream!

Alarm System

Higher-tier wine coolers may have an alarm system - either a visual or aural alarm that goes off when the temperature strays outside it’s set boundaries. This can be very helpful for warning you if the door is ajar, there is a power failure, or some other problem that could threaten the climate of your cooler.

Wine Cooler Prices

Coolers range in price from $87 to $250 and in total we found prices for 4 coolers. The average price of a new wine cooler is $165 and the 80% of coolers are priced between $87 and $250. The cheapest cooler that we found is the Magic Chef MCWC6B at only $87, and the most expensive is the NewAir AW-280E at $250.

Cooler Brands - Price Range

NewAir coolers range in price from $250 to $250, and the average price of NewAir coolers is $250 which is the highest average price of all wine cooler brands.

Avanti wine coolers range in price from $197 to $197, and the average price of Avanti wine coolers is $197 which is the second highest average price of all cooler brands.

The third highest average wine cooler price out of all brands is Magic Chef coolers with an average price of $106. Magic Chef coolers range in price from $87 to $125.

Wine Cooler Brands - Average Ratings

We have checked 2 expert reviews and 784 user reviews for coolers and used this data to evaluate the average rating for each brand of wine cooler.

Biggest Cooler Retailers

We found 4 current offers for wine coolers from Overstock making it the biggest cooler retailer. That is over 4 times bigger than the second biggest retailer, Walmart for whom we found 1 current offers for wine coolers.

When Are Most New Coolers Released?

We looked at the release dates for new wine coolers over the last 3 years, but couldn't see any clear pattern. Last year most new wine coolers were released in March, with eight new wine coolers released that month. March was also the biggest month in 2018 for new coolers, with 17 new coolers released that month. The biggest month in 2017 for new wine cooler releases was July, with 29 new wine coolers released that month.

How Fast Do Wine Cooler Prices Drop After Release?

In the first 6 months after release, coolers drop in price by 37% on average.

A typical new cooler costs on average $165. By waiting 6 months before buying you could save on average $60.

Bottle Capacity

'Bottle Capacity' denotes the maximum number of bottles the wine cooler is capable of holding at once.

Across the range of coolers, the bottle capacity range from 1 bottles to 315 bottles. The bottle capacity of the majority of wine coolers range from 0 bottles to 30 bottles. The NewAir AW-280E, which currently retails for $249.95, has the biggest bottle capacity and is a 28 bottles bottle capacity cooler. The Magic Chef MCWC6B, which can be purchased for $87.49, has the smallest bottle capacity and is a 6 bottles bottle capacity wine cooler.

Temperature Zones

'Temperature zones' are separate parts of the wine cooler, which can all be set to differing temperatures.

The temperature zones of coolers range from 1 to 3. The temperature zones of the majority of wine coolers range from 1 to 2. The cooler with the most temperature zone is the Avanti EWC18N2PD, which is a 2 temperature zone wine cooler and currently retails for $197.49. The cooler with the least temperature zone is the Magic Chef MCWC6B, which is a 1 temperature zone wine cooler and is available at $87.49.

Noise Levels

The noise level of the wine cooler, measured in decibels (dB).

Comparing all coolers, the noise levels range from 25dB to 55dB. The noise levels of the majority of coolers range from 39dB to 41dB. The Magic Chef MCWC12B, which currently retails for $125.47, has the loudest noise level and is a 39dB wine cooler. The NewAir AW-280E, which can be purchased for $249.95, has the quietest noise level and is a 25dB wine cooler.

Which Are the Cheapest Retailers for Coolers?

The chart below helps you decide which retailer is normally cheapest for buying wine coolers. For each retailer it shows the total number of wine coolers where they currently have a market leading price. The chart below helps you decide which retailer is normally cheapest for buying wine coolers. For each retailer we took all of their prices and looked at what proportion of those prices where the cheapest on the market. The cheapest retailer that we found was Overstock. 4 of their wine cooler prices were the cheapest that could be found anywhere.

Proportion of Wine Coolers for Which Each Retailer is Cheapest?

Assessing how cheap each retailer is for coolers by counting the number of cheapest prices for that retailer, makes the retailers that offer the greatest number of cooler prices more likely to offer the greatest number of cheapest prices. The chart below considers the proportion of each retailer's cooler prices that are the cheapest compared to other retailers.