If you’re in the market for an affordable home wine cooler, you have likely given some thought to the various Avanti Wine Cooler models. Their smaller coolers are carried by retail stores such as Target, so the price point tends to be pretty attractive compared to their higher-end competitors. Before making a purchase decision, be aware of what these coolers are as well as what they aren’t.

Avanti coolers are made in China. They have been built from the start to be low-cost models – they tend to be the lowest cost coolers on the market. Because of this, when compared to higher-priced models, there are some substantial shortcomings. These shortcomings could be just an annoyance, but some may lead to continual problems with the unit or even damage to your wine collection.

First, their compressor-based units tend to be noisy. They aren’t quite as loud as the Danby units, but in most cases they will be the loudest appliance in your home. Often the units have small coolant leaks from the factory. These leaks will cause the unit to stop cooling – sometimes in as little as six months, sometimes in 18 months. Unfortunately, while the actual compressor is covered by their warranty, the coolant leaks aren’t. It can be difficult if not impossible to find a company willing to repair an Avanti cooler. These two things could make your inexpensive wine cooler worthless in a very short period of time.

Their thermoelectric units are very quiet, but they have other issues. As is the case with all thermoelectric units, they have difficulty reaching and maintaining a fixed temperature. They do best at reaching a 20-degree differential between the outside of the cooler and the inside. If your home is cool, they can keep your wines at or near the ideal temperature. Otherwise, the bottles will not be optimally stored. The thermoelectric cooling is really only a feature of some of their smaller units, and they should be thought of as “wine chillers” as opposed to wine storage units.

From the smallest cooler to their largest 166-bottle storage unit, none of the Avanti coolers are meant to be high-end appliances. They have plastic trim, are made from thinner metal, and they just wouldn’t match the decor in a luxury home. If you’re wanting a wine cooler to fit in with your expensive cabinets, I’d go with a higher-end model. They are built to fit the smallest (burgundy) wine bottles and anything larger will cause inefficient use of space. In any mixed-wine collection, don’t expect to fill it anywhere near the stated capacity (in one case, a purchaser of the 166-bottle cooler was only able to fit 100 bottles).

If you’re looking for an inexpensive wine chiller that can cool a dozen bottles without taking up your whole refrigerator, their small units might fit the bill. Of course, they might not last more than a year or two, so you’ll have to weight the cost versus the life of the unit. On the other hand, if you’re wanting to keep and display your expensive wine collection in optimal conditions similar to those found in an underground wine cellar, I would recommend passing on the Avanti Wine Cooler and choosing a more reliable model that was actually made for long-term wine storage.

If you are seriously considering a Marvel Wine Cooler (Marvel refers to them as “Wine Cellars”), rest assured that you’re looking at a quality cooler that will provide you with years of reliable storage for your wine collection. Unlike competitors’ models that are really nothing more than reworked refrigerators, the Marvel cellars have been designed from the ground up with wine storage in mind. They really are the next best thing to a basement wine cellar.

The marvel coolers are driven by compressors, but they run very silently and virtually vibration-free due to the specific compressor that they use as well as the engineered sound and vibration damping that they’ve put in place. These coolers won’t disturb the sediment in your fine wines nor will the sound of the unit be a distraction – even in the quietest home.

Most of the Marvel wine storage units now include their Sentry or Micro-Sentry monitor systems. These monitors keep track of the interior temperature of the cooler and will signal, both visually and audibly, if the door is left ajar or if the interior temperature goes above a set threshold that would impact the storage quality of your wines. They also automatically defrost as needed.

These wine coolers are made to keep the cold inside without using a great deal of energy. The glass doors are double-pane UV-resistant glass filled with argon gas. These doors block damaging UV wavelengths, provide superior insulation, yet allow your wine collection to be visible to you and your guests. Also, the interior lighting can be left on continuously for display without affecting the interior temperature.

The shelves in the Marvel coolers can accommodate all different sizes of wine bottles. They can even handle the large magnum bottles. The shelves also extend for easy placement and removal of your wines. The shelves have a built-in safety stop, so that even when fully loaded with wines, you can securely extend the shelves for easy access. The shelves will fully extend once the door is opened 90 degrees. This means that you don’t have to provide extra room for door swing.

The temperature is displayed in real time on a tasteful amber LED display, and the tough-controls are discreetly placed yet still provide simple, intuitive control of the internal temperature. The unit can be set for any temperature between 40 and 65 degrees F.

Marvel currently makes wine cooler models that will accommodate many different sizes of wine collection or that will fit in many different applications. Their smallest cooler is a 23-bottle model, and their largest will handle 108 bottles. For those needing more flexibility, multiple units can be installed side-by-side and the doors are reversible so that both doors will open to the outside. Marvel also manufactures a full line of dual-zone cellars for storage of wines and champagnes as well as dual-beverage coolers that can be used for both wines and beers.

Finally, the units are available with black exterior and interior with either black or stainless trim or with a white exterior and interior with white trim. The coolers can also be ordered with a door that will accept a custom overlay from your cabinet maker so that the cooler will match the rest of your cabinetry. Regardless of your specific wine storage needs, a Marvel Wine Cooler will provide reliable long-term safe storage for your best wines.

If you are looking for an entry-level basic storage unit for your wines, a Danby wine cooler might just be what you’re looking for.

Danby offers several models ranging from small 17-bottle coolers to large 65-bottle units. While each model comes close to the stated capacity, in reality given the slight variation in bottle sizes, the actual capacity is usually a little less than is stated by the manufacturer. Because of this, if you have specific need storage for a certain number of wine bottle, I recommend stepping up to the next largest cooler.

The Danby coolers tend to be very basic models. Some of the features that are included in competitors’ coolers are noticeably missing in Danby’s. For example, the lack of an internal fan causes a temperature variance of several degrees from top to bottom. If you have moderate turn-over of your wines, this isn’t an issue, but if you intend on keeping your wines for many years, it is something to consider before making a purchase decision.

Also, most of the Danby models are lacking sound insulation around the compressor. This means that compared to other higher-end (expensive) coolers, these Danby wine coolers tend to be on the loud side. They would be fine in a garage or even perhaps in a kitchen, but if you have a quiet home, they might be a little noisy. Because of this, they are also not the best choice if you need to place your wine cooler in a bedroom.

Most of the Danby models have fixed shelving. This is good for stability of the wine bottles – they will not be disturbed as much as with sliding shelves. However, this comes at a cost. Larger wine bottle can be somewhat more difficult to place and remove, especially as the cooler begins to near full capacity. I’ve seen comments where some people will place their wine bottles in an alternating backwards/forwards fashion, but this negates the benefit of the angled cork-down shelving.

Nearly all of the Danby coolers are black and most come with what they call “platinum” trim. On most models this trim is plastic. It seems durable and looks ok, it’s just not a high-end metal trimmed unit.

The glass in the doors tends to be heavy and insulates well. The doors usually have a good functional seal and the units overall use very little energy. Of course, much of this efficiency comes from the door staying closed most of the time. Some of the Danby models include LED lighting, which could be left on for extended periods of time. Their lower-end models include incandescent lighting, which should ideally only be used to find a specific bottle as it will increase the interior temperature of the cooler.

Overall, the Danby Silhoutte models are priced right, but as in most things, you get what you pay for. These are very basic models that perform their function adequately without a lot of frills. If you’re a serious wine collector, I recommend looking at some of the higher-end brands for more consistent results. Otherwise, for a value-unit, a Danby wine cooler will be serviceable for everyday wine storage.

Anyone who knows even the slightest bit about wines has heard of wine cellars. When wines are stored for any long period of time, in order to maintain their quality, they must be kept in an environment that’s somewhat dark with a humidity of between 50% and 70% and a temperature of 55-56 degrees. It’s also important that the wines are disturbed as little as possible.

While the huge cost of building and maintaining a wine cellar is beyond the reach of most, thankfully an electric wine cooler provides the same benefits in a smaller and far less expensive package.

Unless you’re well-versed in wines, you might wonder why you’d need a wine refrigerator instead of just storing your wines on the back shelf behind the milk.

First, a standard refrigerator is kept much too cold for wines. Even if you increased the temperature to accommodate your best chardonneys, your milk would suffer, and every time you open the door, the temperature would fluctuate too much for the health of your wines. At the same time, standard home refrigerators aren’t designed to hold wine bottles in the position that’s required for extended storage – neck angled slightly down. This keeps the cork from drying out and helps keep sediment on the cork.

Finally, refrigerators are designed to cool quickly and pull much of the humidity out of the air. Neither of these things is good for wines.

A wine cooler is designed to provide the optimal environment for long-term storage of wines, duplicating the environment of underground wine cellars. Most not only gently maintain the proper temperature, but they also maintain the humidity level required for proper storage. They are also designed to minimize vibrations that occur in regular refrigerators. These vibrations would disturb the sedimentation process that keeps wines clear.

Most smaller wine coolers use thermoelectric cooling which provide cooling without the noise and vibration of compressors. The larger wine coolers that are compressor-cooled are build to dampen the vibrations caused by the compressor so that the wine stored inside is not affected.

From small counter top units to large built-in models, today’s wine coolers can fit any home, any budget, and any need.

If you are only an occasional wine drinker but still want to properly store your wines, there are small counter top units that will store 6 to 12 bottles of wine. Some of these units are designed to mount under cabinets as well. They take up little space (some less than a microwave), yet provide the same environmental benefits as the larger models.

On the other hand, if you’re a wine lover who has need for more storage, the larger models are available in free standing models or built-in models to be installed under your counter top. These built-in models are designed to have zero-clearance like a dishwasher and all of the venting is done at the bottom front of the unit. Obviously if you’re looking at a built-in unit, you will want to look at all of your options to make sure the unit matches the rest of your decor as well as being the right size for your needs as well as for the space you have for it.

If you’re a serious wine aficionado, there are even larger electric wine cooler models that are as large as a standard refrigerator or even as big as a commercial freezer. Even the largest unit costs far less than building out a cellar, so there is a wine cooler for all needs.

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