Compare the Best Wine CoolersApril 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

Wine coolers range in price from £56 to £4,999 and in total we found prices for 139 wine coolers. A new wine cooler costs on average £988 and 80% of wine coolers are priced between £192 and £2,340. The Hostess HW02MA is the cheapest wine cooler at only £56, and Miele KWT 6834 SGS is the most expensive at £4,999.

Cooler Brands - Price Range

Siemens coolers start at £3,800 and their most expensive wine cooler costs £3,800. The highest average wine cooler price out of all brands is Siemens coolers with an average price of £3,800.

Miele wine coolers start at £2,099 and their most expensive cooler costs £4,999. The second highest average cooler price out of all brands is Miele wine coolers with an average price of £3,592.

Liebherr wine coolers range in price from £879 to £3,999, and the average price of Liebherr wine coolers is £2,044 which is the third highest average price of all cooler brands.

Wine Cooler Brands - Average Ratings

We have evaluated 2 expert reviews and 712 user reviews for coolers and used these reviews to calculate the average rating for each brand of cooler.

Biggest Cooler Retailers

We found 57 current offers for wine coolers from Appliance City making it the biggest cooler retailer. That is much bigger than the second biggest retailer, Appliances Direct for whom we found 33 current offers for wine coolers. The third biggest retailer is Home Source 4u with 31 current cooler offers.

When Are Most New Wine Coolers Released?

We looked at the release dates for new wine coolers over the last 3 years, but couldn't see any prominent pattern. Last year most new coolers were released in March, with 17 new coolers released that month. In July 2017, 30 new wine coolers were released making it the biggest month that year for new wine cooler releases. September was the biggest month in 2016 for new coolers, with 27 new coolers released that month.

How Fast Do Cooler Prices Drop After Release?

On average, in the first 6 months after release, wine coolers drop in price by 1%. That means that on a typical cooler costing £988 you could save on average £13 by waiting 6 months before buying.

Bottle Capacity

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

Comparing all wine coolers, the bottle capacity range from 1 bottles to 592 bottles. The bottle capacity of most coolers range from 0 bottles to 30 bottles. The Caple WF1548, which can be purchased for £1,699.00, has the biggest bottle capacity and is a 592 bottles bottle capacity wine cooler. The Hostess HW02MA, which sells for £56.49, has the smallest bottle capacity and is a 2 bottles bottle capacity wine cooler.

Temperature Zones

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

Comparing all wine coolers, the temperature zones range from 1 to 3. The temperature zones of most wine coolers range from 1 to 2. The Miele KWT 6834 SGS, which is on sale for £4,999.00, has the most temperature zone and is a 3 temperature zone cooler. The wine cooler with the least temperature zone is the Liebherr WKR3211, which is a 1 temperature zone cooler and is on sale for £1,129.00.

Noise Levels

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

Across the range of coolers, the noise levels range from 25dB to 55dB. The noise levels of most wine coolers range from 39dB to 41dB. The wine cooler with the loudest noise level is the Amica AWC300SS, which is a 47dB cooler and sells for £257.99. The wine cooler with the quietest noise level is the Klarstein Vivo Vino, which is a 30dB cooler and can be purchased for £341.99.

Which Are the Cheapest Retailers for Coolers?

The chart below helps you decide which retailer is normally cheapest for buying coolers. For each retailer it shows the total number of 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 Appliance City. 21 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 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. The cheapest retailer that we found using this approach was Appliance City. 36.8% of their wine cooler prices were the cheapest that could be found anywhere.