Compare the Best Wine CoolersJune 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.

Wine Cooler Prices

Coolers range in price from £56 to £4,599 and in total we found prices for 137 coolers. A new wine cooler costs on average £893 and 80% of coolers are priced between £169 and £1,999. The Siemens CI24WP02 is the most expensive wine cooler that we found at £4,599, and the Hostess HW02MA is the cheapest at only £56.

Cooler Brands - Price Range

The average price of Siemens wine coolers is £4,599 which is the highest average price of all cooler brands. Siemens wine coolers range in price from £4,599 to £4,599.

The average price of Miele wine coolers is £2,915 which is the second highest average price of all wine cooler brands. Miele wine coolers range in price from £1,799 to £4,499.

Liebherr coolers start at £865 and their most expensive wine cooler costs £3,699. The third highest average wine cooler price out of all brands is Liebherr coolers with an average price of £1,824.

Wine Cooler Brands - Average Ratings

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

Biggest Cooler Retailers

The biggest wine cooler retailer by number of products currently for sale is Appliance City. We found 57 current wine cooler offers from Appliance City. The second biggest retailer is Appliances Direct with 33 offers. That means Appliance City is much bigger than Appliances Direct when it comes to wine coolers. Home Source 4u is the third biggest retailer with 31 current offers.

When Are Most New Coolers Released?

We looked at the release dates for new coolers over the last 3 years, but couldn't see any obvious trend. In March 2018, 17 new wine coolers were released making it the biggest month that year for new wine cooler releases. In 2017 most new coolers were released in July, with 30 new coolers released that month. September was the biggest month in 2016 for new wine coolers, with 27 new wine coolers released that month.

How Fast Do Cooler Prices Drop After Release?

On average, in the first 6 months after release, coolers drop in price by 1%. That means a saving of £11 on a typical £893 new wine cooler if you wait 6 months before buying.

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 coolers range from 0 bottles to 30 bottles. The wine cooler with the biggest bottle capacity is the Caple WF1548, which is a 592 bottles bottle capacity cooler and is priced at £1,598.49. The Hostess HW02MA, which sells for £56.49, has the smallest bottle capacity and is a 2 bottles bottle capacity cooler.

Temperature Zones

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

Across the range of coolers, the temperature zones range from 1 to 3. The temperature zones of most coolers range from 1 to 2. The cooler with the most temperature zone is the Caple WF1548, which is a 3 temperature zone cooler and is available at £1,598.49. The Liebherr WKR1811, which can be purchased for £866.80, has the least temperature zone and is a 1 temperature zone 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 cooler with the loudest noise level is the SIA BWC150BL, which is a 55dB wine cooler and is priced at £144.99. The cooler with the quietest noise level is the Klarstein Vivo Vino, which is a 30dB cooler and is available at £341.99.

Which Are the Cheapest Retailers for Wine 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 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 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 cooler prices were the cheapest that could be found anywhere.