Compare the Best Wine CoolersMay 2019

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.

Cooler Prices

In total we found 7 wine coolers ranging from $87 to $3,299. A new wine cooler costs on average $1,065 and 80% of wine coolers are priced between $125 and $3,299. The most expensive cooler that we found is the Miele KWT6322UG at $3,299, and the cheapest is the Magic Chef MCWC6B at only $87.

Wine Cooler Brands - Price Range

The average price of Miele wine coolers is $3,299 which is the highest average price of all wine cooler brands. Miele wine coolers start at $3,299 and their most expensive wine cooler costs $3,299.

The second highest average wine cooler price out of all brands is NewAir wine coolers with an average price of $250. NewAir wine coolers start at $250 and their most expensive wine cooler costs $250.

Avanti coolers start at $197 and their most expensive cooler costs $197. The average price of Avanti coolers is $197 which is the third highest average price of all cooler brands.

Cooler Brands - Average Ratings

We have analysed 2 expert reviews and 714 user reviews for coolers and used these reviews to determine the average rating for each brand of wine cooler.

Biggest Cooler Retailers

We found 5 current offers for wine coolers from Appliances Connection making it the biggest cooler retailer. That is significantly bigger than the second biggest retailer, Overstock for whom we found 4 current offers for wine coolers. The third biggest retailer is Air n Water with 3 current cooler offers.

When Are Most New Coolers Released?

Over the last 3 years we couldn't see any clear trend in the release month for new wine coolers. March was the biggest month last year for new wine coolers, with 17 new wine coolers released that month. 30 new wine coolers were released in July 2017 making it the biggest month that year for new wine cooler releases. In 2016 most new coolers were released in September, with 27 new 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 20% on average. On a typical new cooler costing $1,065, by waiting 6 months before buying you could save on average $215.

Bottle Capacity

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

The bottle capacity of coolers range from 1 bottles to 592 bottles. The bottle capacity of most wine coolers range from 0 bottles to 30 bottles. The Miele KWT6312UGS, which sells for $3,299.00, has the biggest bottle capacity and is a 46 bottles bottle capacity wine cooler. The wine cooler with the smallest bottle capacity is the Magic Chef MCWC6B, which is a 6 bottles bottle capacity wine cooler and is on sale for $87.49.

Temperature Zones

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

Across the range of wine coolers, the temperature zones range from 1 to 3. The temperature zones of the majority of wine coolers range from 1 to 2. The wine cooler with the most temperature zone is the Miele KWT6322UG, which is a 2 temperature zone cooler and is available at $3,299.00. The Miele KWT6312UGS, which sells for $3,299.00, has the least temperature zone and is a 1 temperature zone wine cooler.

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

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 Pricefalls. 3 of their 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 wine 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.