Hi. First post and hopefully someone can lend their opinion. I
currently am in the market for an economical wine fridge/cellar. I
had thought I would get the vinotemp 180 bottle model but dont know
much about them. Does anyone have experience with this brand or a
similar make that manufactures in this capacity range? I prefer to
stay away from the ones that require assembly. Any respected online
source for buying would also be appreciated.

Thanks so much.

Evan
Philadephia PA

BTW - Space is an issue so I am not interested in a higher capacity
unit, even though I will fill it soon enough.

Vinotemp (tm) are solid, basic units with simple finish. Made in southern
California and shipped either assembled or broken down (very easy to
reassenble, I broke one down and re-assembled in order to relocate it).
Price is what applied mathematicians call a "weak" function of capacity:
$1000 US maybe, catalog for 220-bottle unit, going up or down less than
proportionately as capacity grows or shrinks. Standard racking inside is
redwood and aluminum, two bottles deep, spaced for standard wine bottles
excluding Champagne or the larger-diameter Burgundy bottles, which can be
stacked in the unracked part up top if they are not the whole inventory,
otherwise unit can be ordered racked for larger bottles. Cooling unit is
modular, slides into place, local temp sensor (as in an air conditioner).
Higher-priced competing brands (two in particular) that are also very
popular tend to cost perhaps twice as much and have more furniture-like
exteriors or doors, and more elaborate temperature sensors that may be more
effective, I don't have data there. I will note that in steady-state
temperature control in general, a fundamental factor, whose lack cannot be
made up by other means, is insulation -- in principle with perfect
insulation you cool down once and it STAYS cold; also that higher-priced
temp-control products sold to consumers tend to feature "marketing-type"
technical claims about nuances in their temperature sensors, especially when
sold to consumers ill-equipped to evaluate the substance of the claims
objectively (resembling complex consumer audio and video products in that
regard); and that the Vinotemp line is known for its plain functional
appearance rather than furniture appeal. I use one sometimes and several
other people I know are happy with theirs; all sought economy over beauty.

Finally a quick check of the Google WWW "Groups" archive revealed many past
comments on Vinotemp in this newsgroup that may address this query.


"Evan" in om...
> . . . I
> currently am in the market for an economical wine fridge/cellar. I
> had thought I would get the vinotemp 180 bottle model but dont know
> much about them. Does anyone have experience with this brand or a
> similar make that manufactures in this capacity range? I prefer to
> stay away from the ones that require assembly.

Thanks Max for your help. I decided to buy a vintage keeper 220
bottle cellar after learning the difference between a cellar and a
fridge. I found a guy who said he would help put it together so that
did it for me. Plus I got a great price - 950 shipped! Again, thanks
for your help with my question.

es