The Best Wine Coolers and Fridges

We spent months researching wine fridges to find out what makes a great fridge, who should get one, and why. To learn about proper wine storage, we spoke with 10 experts across the field: Pascaline Lepeltier, a master sommelier; Alexander Pandell, a physical chemist; Levi Dalton, host and producer of the wine-talk podcast I’ll Drink to That!; Michele Thomas, sommelier and wine educator; Eric Asimov, wine critic at The New York Times; Alice Feiring, author of the natural wine newsletter The Feiring Line and several books about wine; Lydia Richards, sommelier and founder of Vino Concierge; wine chemist Gavin Sacks, professor and associate chair in the Department of Food Science at Cornell University; Talia Baiocchi, editor in chief of Punch magazine; and Ashley Santoro, the co-owner of Leisir Wine Club.

We did not conduct hands-on testing for this guide. We did take extra care in poring over editorial reviews and customer feedback to make our recommendations.

This guide was co-authored by Winnie Yang, who edited Wirecutter’s guides to large appliances and has covered food and wine for publications including Culinary Backstreets, The Art of Eating, and Saveur, and by writer Anna Perling, who tested everything from cooking and baking gear to instant noodles for Wirecutter.

Most people don’t need a wine fridge. But if you’re buying more good-quality wine than you can imbibe in about a month, you tend to keep a stock of several cases, you regularly buy bottles that cost $30 or more from a reputable source, you want to age wine, or you’re considering selling or trading bottles, you should think about getting one. Plus, storing and serving wine at the right temperatures will improve the taste. Levi Dalton, host of the podcast I’ll Drink to That, told us, “Good storage is going to make the wine-drinking experience better.”

For this guide, we focused on medium-size wine fridges that will hold about five or six cases of wine. We think this size hits the sweet spot for keeping small collections safe, without taking up too much floor space. Every expert we spoke with also advised getting a fridge that’s twice the size you think you’ll need. Size correlates with price for these fridges, though—that’s why our picks are $1,000. We know that space, budget, and collection size will influence your purchase, so our Competition section includes both larger and smaller options.

A wine fridge is more than just extra storage. It’s almost like a safe for your collection. A great one will guard against the variables that degrade wine over time: light, heat, vibration, and changes in temperature and humidity. These unseen forces can affect a wine’s flavor and even ruin it.

Experts agree that proper storage is the number one way to maximize your drinking experience, whether you’re an oenophile or a casual drinker. “If you have limited resources but you care, the best thing you can do is store your wine well,” Dalton told us. “If you have a $50 bottle of wine, and you store it well, provided it hasn’t been damaged on its way to you, it’s going to drink better than a $500 bottle of wine that wasn’t stored well.”

Proper wine storage especially matters if you like drinking natural wines. There’s no legal definition for what counts as natural wine, but most use grapes that aren’t treated with pesticides and don’t include additives or preservatives like sulfites. The category has recently boomed, and it shows no signs of declining (some people, like wine writer Alice Feiring, have for years championed natural wine as a way to embrace terroir). These wines are more vulnerable, however, to oxidation (when wine is exposed to air, which can change its aroma or structure) or going bad. It’s a myth that natural wines can’t age—with enough tannins, careful fermentation, and proper shipping and storage, they can mature for decades. Even if you’re not storing them long-term, they’ll still fare better if kept at the right temperature and away from light, because they’re more fragile than traditional wines.

If you don’t have the space or the need for dedicated wine storage, a regular fridge will probably do for short-term storage of about a month. Even experts like master sommelier Pascaline Lepeltier and New York Times wine critic Eric Asimov sometimes stash wine in a regular fridge due to space constraints. Still, it’s not ideal. Regular fridges are drier (which can desiccate corks), colder (which prevents aging), and vibrate more (which can disturb wine). For everyday bottles that you don’t want to age, these factors aren’t much of a concern since you won’t be keeping a bottle in the fridge long enough for it to matter. The other issue is that a regular fridge’s temperature (about 40 °F) is colder than ideal for serving any type of wine, whereas a programmable or multi-zone wine fridge can keep bottles at their respective ready-to-pour temperatures. But to cool or warm wine for serving, you can simply put it in or take it out of the fridge based on when you want to drink it.

You can also store your wine in a cool, temperature-stable space like a basement. If it tends to be damp, however, you may want to get a dehumidifier because moisture can destroy labels (which is important if you are aging your wine, and if you intend to resell it).

If you’re interested in getting into wine, you can also look for a used wine fridge or cabinet. These will cost far less than new ones, especially high-end fridges. People’s collections often outgrow their storage solutions, so deals on secondhand models are usually not hard to come by. Look for name brands, ask how old the unit is and about the warranty on the fridge, and check that the unit can hold the desired temperature. You can also ask what kinds of wines the collector stored there, sommelier Michele Thomas told us, to get a feel for whether a used fridge will fit your needs.

Some collectors also opt for off-site storage, paying to store bottles in controlled environments. If you don’t have a cellar or basement or room for a wine fridge, or if you have a large collection, this may work for you. Retrieving your bottles will take more planning than just walking to a fridge, however, and you may lose track of the bottles you have since they’re not in plain sight. Dalton cautioned that when you’re dealing with off-site storage, accidents, poor handling, or natural disasters could lead to ruined wine. And even if you do choose this option, you may still want a fridge to keep bottles in once you pick them up, since you may not drink them immediately.

To find the best wine fridges, we pored over thousands of reviews of the best-selling models from major appliance retailers, including Home Depot, Best Buy, Appliances Connection, AJ Madison, Costco, and Wine Enthusiast.

We also went deep on how to store wine and what makes a great wine fridge. The most useful articles we read on wine storage were from Wine Spectator, MasterClass, Eater, and The New York Times; we also consulted academic articles from the Australian Journal of Grape and Wine Research and pieces from the Iowa State University extension program. To find the best fridges to consider, we read reviews from Liquor.com, Epicurious, Wine Enthusiast, and The Strategist. Then we dove into the discussions on Reddit and Wine Berserkers to see what enthusiasts had to say about different makes and models. And, of course, we considered the advice from the 10 wine professionals we spoke with for the piece, cross-referencing their recommendations with everything we read.

We contemplated a wide range of sizes, including fridges that can hold a maximum of 12 bottles to ones that can hold 150. Considering the expert advice to always get a fridge that’s double the size you think you’ll need, we settled on fridges that would hold up to a half-dozen cases of wine. We think this will be an adequate size for storing small collections, without taking up too much space in your house. Your needs will of course vary based on your space and collection. Most fridges estimate capacity based on a collection of standard-sized Bordeaux bottles. Wine Enthusiast (the seller of our picks) advises that if non-Bordeaux bottles make up half of your collection, your storage capacity may go down 20% to 25%; if more than half of the bottles are non-Bordeaux, capacity may go down 40%. You can get a fridge with similar features and different capacities from the brands that make our picks, and we discuss the details of different-size options in our Competition section.

A note on thermoelectric fridges: We originally recommended these because they’re quiet. But we’ve noticed a decrease in their availability. And these fridges also function best when the ambient temperature stays near room temperature. It’s also very hard to find larger thermoelectric fridges, and most collectors will want the maximum amount of space they can afford.

Once we gathered all of this information, we established that a great wine fridge should satisfy the following criteria:

Value: The golden rule of wine fridges is you should get one that’s double the size you think you’ll need. We looked for models that had the most space, the best features, and the longest warranties, for the best price.

Quality construction: Many wine fridges fail—their compressors stop working, they stop holding temperature, they leak, their doors break. We screened reviews for any mentions of poor quality.

Great customer support: Because wine fridges are large and heavy, we wanted to make sure that buying one would be an easy experience. We considered a company’s customer support, as well as its warranty and return policy, in case anything goes awry (and because wine fridges tend to fail). For an extra fee, some companies also offer white-glove delivery (to bring a fridge inside to a desired location when it’s delivered).

Features: Most of the fridges we looked at had digital touchscreen controls, for managing temperature settings, and LED lights, for seeing what’s inside the fridge. It’s ideal for a fridge to have a front-facing vent because you need to leave space around the compressor to ensure the fridge is working properly. But you can achieve the same effect for a fridge with a back vent by spacing it away from the wall.

We gave bonus points for high-quality features like wooden shelves (they’re sturdier and will absorb more vibrations compared with metal ones), adjustable shelves that can fit more and different kinds of bottles, locking doors, and charcoal or carbon filters that filter out odors (which may affect wine). One model we considered had a built-in hygrometer (a device that measures humidity), but this doesn’t actually solve any humidity problems; it can just indicate one. And unless you’re in a dry climate or concerned about reselling wine, you probably don’t need this. You can also buy a hygrometer separately.

Because most fridges look similar—large rectangular boxes of varying heights and widths—aesthetics didn’t factor heavily into how we picked. Although you can get some basic fridges in different finishes (stainless steel) or with wooden shelves, most vary only slightly in design features. Some higher-end fridges are made to look like furniture and have wooden panels or decorative lighting, but these are also far more expensive than our picks.

Quiet operation: We screened reviews for mentions of noise, one of the most common complaints we found regarding fridges. A loud fridge will not only be annoying, but the vibrations may also harm wine (though some experts disagree on this).

After our extensive research, we came up with a list of 42 notable fridges. We narrowed the list to 13 top contenders based on our criteria, comparing these side by side and diving back into reviews before choosing our picks.

Among the hundreds of wine fridges we considered, the Wine Enthusiast Classic 80 Wine Cellar has the best capacity and features for the price. This model is the best choice if you’re just getting into wine collecting but you want a fridge that lasts, or if you want to maximize storage space. The Classic 80 should hold about five to six cases of wine, and it is about the size of a large end table. After reading thousands of reviews about hundreds of models, we don’t think a perfect budget-friendly wine fridge exists. The Classic 80 is basic, but it’s made by a trusted brand within the wine industry. Unlike big-box appliance stores, Wine Enthusiast sells only wine fridges, furniture, and accessories. We recommend buying from Wine Enthusiast because it offers dedicated customer service and free delivery, both of which make it easier to buy a niche, bulky, and expensive appliance.

Multiple experts, including Ashley Santoro, Lydia Richards, Michele Thomas, and Eric Asimov, recommended the Wine Enthusiast fridges, as do publications like The Strategist and Epicurious. The retail arm exists under the same umbrella company as Wine Enthusiast magazine, but the two are separate entities. A representative from the company told us the magazine does not write reviews of wine refrigerators because that would be a conflict of interest; Wine Enthusiast does sometimes cover the brand’s own furniture and accessories. Wine Enthusiast has been making fridges (and selling wine accessories) since 1982.

The Classic 80 is a single-zone fridge, which means all the wine you store in it will be kept at one temperature. You can choose to set the temperature between 41 °F to 68 °F (the recommended ambient operating temperature is 61 °F to 90 °F, though your fridge will have to work harder to stay cold in hotter climates). Most of the experts we spoke with didn’t consider dual temperature zones to be a must-have feature. If you aren’t concerned about dedicated aging, sommelier Michele Thomas told us that most wines should be fine stored at about 50 °F.

Single-zone fridges like the Classic 80 will provide more space and flexibility for the types of bottles you store, since there isn’t a divider shelf between two compartments. Ashley Santoro, owner of Leisir wine store in New York City, recommends a single-zone fridge for people living with space constraints.

Single-zone fridges are also more likely to maintain consistent temperatures—which is key for protecting wine from seepage or oxidation—and they last longer. Some expensive dual-zone fridges have separate compressors for each compartment, but most circulate air from one compressor between the sections with a fan. In our research, we learned that wine fridges commonly fail because their compressors (the part that keeps them cool) die relatively quickly. And in a dual-zone fridge, compressors have to work harder to maintain two different temperatures, so they may wear out faster. Steve Johnson, an owner of Mr. Appliance repair franchises, told us that with dual zones, “As one cycles off, the other cycles back on, so it makes the compressor run longer.” Lydia Richards, sommelier and founder of Vino Concierge, said, “In my opinion, dual zones are not necessarily important. The main consideration is consistency in temperature.” To bring your wine to drinking temperature before serving, you can simply pull out a bottle to warm it up (conversely, you can give wines that need it an extra chill by popping them into the fridge for 10 to 15 minutes). But if you want to be able to pull out a bottle that’s ready to pour, you might want to consider our other pick, the Classic 70.

Since you’ll likely need more storage than you anticipate, we think this medium-size fridge will work for most beginner to mid-level collectors. Most wine fridges hold fewer bottles than they advertise, especially if you buy larger California reds, taller rieslings, or bulbous magnums. You can store larger or differently shaped bottles in the Classic 80’s bottom angled display shelf (its slight angle should keep the wine in contact with the cork). Reviewers also report that you can stack multiple bottles at the bottom of the fridge if you need extra space, and you can also remove a shelf for bulk storage.

Most of the fridges we looked at had digital touchscreen controls to set the temperature, and the Classic 80 is no different. This fridge also has blue LED lights (which don’t emit enough UV light to harm wine) throughout, so you can see your selection (and you can turn them on and off). The door to this fridge has three layers of glass, for extra insulation and efficiency, and it has a tinted coating to help guard against UV rays. Though glass will allow you to see your bottles better, a solid door is best for protecting wine from light. The door on the Classic 80 has a handle on the right side.

Like most fridges we considered, the aesthetics of the Classic 80 are straightforward. Some step-above fridges have stainless steel frames and all-wood shelves. But we think the Classic 80’s shelves—with their streamlined black finish and wood trim—look nice enough that you’ll want to keep this fridge in your home, instead of banishing it to the garage.

Unlike some other basic fridges we looked at, the Classic 80 has sliding shelves, so you can easily add or retrieve wines. These are powder-coated stainless steel with rounded wires instead of slats, and with elegant-looking wood trim facing the door. Higher-end fridges have all-wood shelves with cradles for individual bottles; these help absorb vibrations, prevent bottles from rolling around, and generally look nicer. But we should note that the bottom display rack on the Classic 80 is all wood.

The Classic 80 also comes with a lock, just in case you want one. We didn’t notice significant noise complaints about this fridge—many reviewers praised it for its silence; online reviews for many other models we considered noted they were obnoxiously loud.

The Wine Enthusiast Classic line, which is entry-level compared with the brand’s other offerings, also includes larger, 150- and 200-bottle single-zone options. Wine Enthusiast makes smaller, no-frills fridges, as well as upgraded or larger fridges with dual zones, larger capacities, and more features, including the Vinothèque models. Some of these can also be built into cabinets, whereas the Classic fridges are freestanding.

It’s crucial to buy a fridge that comes with a good warranty and customer service. Sometimes fridges can arrive damaged or need replacement parts. They may also be too heavy for you to move into your home on your own. The Classic line has a one-year warranty, with a three-year warranty on the sealed system parts (warranties vary based on the line).

Other appliance companies offer varying levels of customer support to help you shop for a fridge, but Wine Enthusiast has a knowledgeable team that specializes in one thing—wine fridges. We spoke with Tilden about the company’s customer service. Team members will help you choose the best option for your needs and space, to try to preempt any need for a return. They can also coordinate delivery and installation if needed. Tilden told us Wine Enthusiast offers free unlimited phone consultations while you’re shopping for a fridge, and it will even look over construction plans, if you’re building in a fridge. (AJ Madison and Best Buy offered comparable consultations.)

You can also opt to pay extra for in-home delivery service, which means the fridge will be delivered not just to your door but also to where you want it in your house. (You may have to pay extra if the delivery people need to go beyond a set number of stairs, or for assembly, but aside from installation of the handle, our picks are ready to go.) This can be helpful because a wine fridge is an unwieldy appliance (the Classic 80 weighs 141 pounds). Members of the forum Wine Berserkers also recommend Costco’s service and delivery, and the retailer offers several Wine Enthusiast fridges (but not our picks, at the time of writing). Wine Enthusiast also has a showroom in Valhalla, New York.

Reviewers note that the Classic 80 is “impressively quiet” and “the temperature holds quite well.” Most acknowledge that it holds fewer than 80 bottles, which is to be expected. Though editorial reviews we read generally recommend the Wine Enthusiast brand, they don’t describe any testing. The experts we spoke with also had generally good things to say. “Wine Enthusiast has a nice line that’s easy going, small, and pretty quiet (for compressor models),” said Michele Thomas. Richards told us that she received a small Wine Enthusiast fridge as a gift long ago, and that it “stays consistent in terms of temperature control.”

This is a standalone wine fridge, so you can’t build it into cabinets. That said, Wine Enthusiast sells other models that can be built in. The Classic 80 also has a rear vent, so you’ll need to install it where there’s ample ventilation space around the fridge (not right up against a wall).

All wine fridges hold less than what they say they will, and the Classic 80 is no different. Tilden told us that certain upgrade Wine Enthusiast fridges offer shelves with more space to fit larger bottles, and we cover these in the Competition section.

Technically, you can reverse the handle on the Classic 80, but you will lose the lock function because you essentially will have to turn the door upside down.

There aren’t a ton of reviews for this fridge, and people on forums like Wine Berserkers and Reddit don’t have much to say about the line (those on Wine Berserkers seem to be more-serious collectors, and so discuss larger, higher-end fridges and alternative storage options like luxury cabinets, cellars, or offsite storage). If you have any feedback on this fridge, please let us know in our comments section below.

The Wine Enthusiast Classic 70 Dual Zone has a design, dimensions, features, and price that are comparable to those of the Classic 80. But the Classic 70 also has a dividing shelf to create two distinct temperature zones. Although this means sacrificing space for wine storage, it also allows you to set each zone to your preferred serving temperatures (which should also work for storage).

There isn’t a consensus on the best temperature at which to serve different styles of wine. But it’s generally accepted that white wines are best served at around 45 °F to 55 °F,  and red wines at around 54 °F  to 65 °F. Optimal serving temperatures may vary according to the type of wine you’re drinking, however, so ask your wine shop or the winemaker if you have any questions.

As with the Classic 80, each of the Classic 70’s dual zones can be set to temperatures in the 41 °F to 68 °F temperature range, and the Classic 70 has the same ambient temperature operating range of 61 °F to 90 °F. The Classic 70 looks almost identical to the Classic 80, and it has the same sliding, coated-wire-and-wood-finished shelves, touch-screen temperature-control panel, on/off blue LED lighting (which doesn’t emit enough UV light to harm wine), bottom wooden display shelf, and lock. It comes with the same warranty and customer service as the Classic 80, too, including a one-year warranty (with a three-year warranty on the sealed system parts), phone consultations while you’re shopping for a fridge, and in-home delivery service (to unpack and set up the heavy fridge inside your home) for an extra fee.

The Classic 70 Dual Zone is a free-standing fridge, and it won’t work as a built-in. It’s the same size and weight as the Classic 80—like a large end table or a short file cabinet. The door is also made of three layers of glass, for added insulation and efficiency, and it has a UV coating (though a solid door will be best for guarding against UV rays).

The EuroCave Premiere S has been replaced with a similar model, the EuroCave La Première S Wine Cellar. The new model has an advertised 98-bottle capacity (though wine fridges tend to hold less than what they say they will). It also has a hygrometer, which its predecessor did not, and improved lighting. We plan to evaluate it.

If you’re looking for the best-value fridge from a restaurant-quality brand, get the EuroCave Premiere S. For serious wine collectors who want to protect their bottles, EuroCave fridges are regarded as stalwarts in the wine community, and they were recommended by six of the experts we spoke with. Of the fridges we looked at, the Premiere S has the most customizable options, to maximize storage space and truly fit all types and bottle sizes. And it has extra features to safeguard your wines. The brand is known for maintaining consistent temperatures, too. Compared with all the fridges we considered, the Premiere S also has one of the longest warranties for the compressor (the part responsible for cooling, and the element most likely to fail). If the Premiere S is out of your price range, you can also look for a used model, a common practice among the experts we spoke with, as well as among oenophiles on wine message boards.

The Premiere S has a 74-bottle capacity and an internal temperature range of 48 °F to 59 °F. The ambient operating temperature range is 32 °F to 95 °F for the solid-door option (a much wider range than on the Classic 80 or the 70), if, say, you want to store it outside in a garage. It’s a single-zone fridge, but it’s far from basic: The Premiere S offers truly customizable storage. You can adjust the fridge’s shelves, to accommodate different bottle shapes and sizes; you can’t do this with our Wine Enthusiast picks (or with most low-end to mid-range freestanding wine fridges). The shelves have removable elastomer-coated cradles for each bottle, to minimize jostling and vibrations, and a beechwood finish. Because bottles sit shallowly in the cradles, and the cradles themselves can be placed closer or farther apart on the shelves, you can easily accommodate magnums or other larger or non-Bordeaux-shaped bottles. You can also remove the sliding shelves to fit more bottles.

The Premiere S also has an option for a solid door. That’s a feature we didn’t see in most other fridges, but it’s the best for protecting wine from light. You can choose which side you want the door hinge to be on (technically, you can change the hinge side on the Wine Enthusiast Classic fridges too, but you will lose the function of the lock). You can also get the fridge with a glass door with UV tinting instead, if you want to see your collection at a glance or show off your bottles, but it costs extra. Style-wise, the Premiere S looks similar to our other picks: It’s a large box, neither an eyesore nor a decorative centerpiece. Higher-end models from the EuroCave line include decorative panels or dazzling light displays to make the fridge look more like a piece of furniture. But, of course, these also cost far more.

The Premiere S also comes with a charcoal filter, which our other picks do not have. A filter will help absorb odors that can affect your wine. You’ll need to replace the filter about once a year.

Though many fridges we looked at had bright blue LED interior lights, the Premiere S’s lighting system is more subtle, while still having added flair. You can use the wands the white LEDs are mounted on to shine on a bottle or a shelf (to better see labels or contents); this was a unique feature among fridges we considered. This fridge also has a digital control panel, a lock, and a temperature alarm to indicate fluctuations.

The Premiere S is expensive, we know, but so are many other wine fridges from brands that aren’t as universally revered. Tilden told us that these fridges are the best for holding stable temperatures, even in different ambient environments. And the experts we spoke with lauded these fridges for their quality construction: They last. Lepeltier said she’s used her fridge (which she bought secondhand, and which was already 10 years old) for 10 years, and she’s had nine in previous restaurants. Asimov has two EuroCave fridges (one of them since 2004). Santoro upgraded the Standard Hotel’s beverage fridge to a EuroCave. And Feiring and Baiocchi both covet these fridges. Luxury hotels and gourmet restaurants around the world use EuroCave fridges. Enthusiasts on the forums Wine Berserkers and Reddit also recommend them.

The brand makes many fridges, and the higher-end models can cost as much as a compact car—and take up about as much space. If you’re a collector interested in one of these, we recommend reaching out to Wine Enthusiast, the only US-based EuroCave dealer. Wine Enthusiast also has a showroom in Valhalla, New York.

With the Premiere S, you’ll get the same dedicated Wine Enthusiast team helping you select the right fridge for your needs. It has a one-year warranty on parts and labor, and a five-year warranty on the compressor—one of the best warranties we saw in our research.

Reviewers of the Premiere S on the Wine Enthusiast site note that the fridge is quiet and holds temperature, even in hot climates. Like all fridges, the Premiere S fits slightly fewer bottles than advertised. There are several reviews noting that condensation builds up in the fridge. If humidity is a concern, you can purchase a standalone hygrometer. If condensation does build up, you can wipe down the fridge and bottles, or use an absorbent, like silica or baking soda (for larger cellars, you may want to invest in a dehumidifier). Some people also report having issues with reaching tech support, while others applaud the customer service.

Despite its deceptively simple appearance, wine is a complex, dynamic drink. Many of the experts we spoke with compared it to a living being. How we taste, smell, and experience wine depends not only on the biological and chemical reactions between its compounds and our sensory organs, but also on the chemical reactions that are continually taking place within the wine itself.

Just like us, wine ages. When people talk about the process, they’re referring to the inevitable chemical reactions that affect the flavors, aromas, and texture of a wine. Sometimes aging will dull a wine’s fruity or floral characteristics, making it taste off or just bad. But on the rare occasion, wine can transcend into something magical—if you provide it with enough time and the right conditions.

Storage will affect the aging process. Many of these chemical reactions—particularly the oxidation and reduction reactions prevalent in wine—are significantly sped up by heat, light, humidity, and motion. No matter whether you’re planning to age wine for decades or keep it on hand for a few years, it’s best to treat your wine like a delicate sculpture: with care.

A specialized wine fridge will give you control over temperature. The ideal storage temperature for wine is between 50 °F and 60 °F (PDF); this is warmer than the temperature range of a normal fridge (which is cold enough to prevent much, if any, aging) and cooler than the ambient temperature of most homes, which hovers at or above 75 °F. The latter is too hot for storing wine for long periods of time. Temperatures over 70 °F can “cook” wine, creating flat, muddy, or off flavors. A basement or a cool room that stays consistently between 50 °F and 60 °F (PDF) can work as storage, but overly damp conditions can encourage mold growth and damage wine labels. Fluctuations in temperature aren’t good for wine either. As wine heats up or cools down, the liquid—and cork—can expand and contract. The can could be pushed out, causing seepage. It can also shrink and allow air into the bottle, causing oxidation. So if you live in a hot place and turn the air off when you go out, for example, a wine fridge can guard against temperature flux. Some wine fridges offer dual-zone construction—two different compartments to keep reds or whites or other types of wine at the right serving temperature.

Light is problematic because UV rays can destroy flavor and aroma compounds, leading to dull and off flavors—like making wine taste nutty or raisiny, Talia Baiocchi, editor in chief of Punch magazine, told us. “Most people should understand what the wine should taste like, and if you store it near a window, it might not have that bright, effervescent flavor,” she said. Keeping wine in a cool, dark place—whether it’s a basement, a cellar, or a wine fridge—can halt these unwanted effects. A wine fridge with a solid door, or one with tinted or UV-protected glass, can defend against harmful rays.

Humidity can be a problem, too, but most experts we spoke with said that’s mainly a concern if you live in an arid climate or keep your wine in a very damp environment. When humidity is very low, a wine’s cork can dry out and shrivel, allowing more air into the bottle. You can combat this effect by storing wine on its side, so the liquid will come in contact with the cork. And again, this will likely happen only if you live in a desert or leave bottles upright for long periods of time. On the other hand, when humidity is too high, moisture can collect on the labels or corks and mold can grow. A dehumidifier can help. If you’re concerned with monitoring humidity, you can get a standalone hygrometer and add or remove moisture to your storage environment.

The effect of vibration on wine is another contested topic. Movement can stir up sediment in old bottles of wine and make it taste off, and kinetic energy can also warm wine (which, again, is harmful). But professor Gavin Sacks of the Cornell University Department of Food Science told us, “Vibration is overemphasized.” He said that when it comes to aging, “We don’t have much evidence that vibrations are going to speed things up in any meaningful way.” This study from the Journal of Food Composition and Analysis found, however, that vibrations can have an effect. And intense vibrations from transit are more worrisome than movement from a fridge. “You’re concerned about vibration when wine is sitting in a truck somewhere, with a refrigeration unit that’s bouncing back and forth for hours,” New York Times wine critic Asimov told us. He emphasized how important it is to buy wine from a good shop you can trust. Regardless, it’s best to treat wine gently and to get a fridge that’s quiet (a loud fridge will be annoying anyway).

Check your fridge’s manual for best maintenance practices. To clean the interior of your cellar, Wine Enthusiast recommends (PDF) that you make and use a gentle baking soda cleaning solution. Wine Enthusiast also recommends cleaning gaskets and oiling hinges every three months. EuroCave recommends (PDF) regular cleaning with a gentle product, then wiping with water and drying; it also recommends cleaning gaskets. To clean the inside of the fridge, you can use a cloth to wipe down the shelves. Keep an eye out for excess moisture, which can lead to mold or mildew and harm your bottles.

Fridges will work more efficiently at or below room temperature. If you’re keeping your fridge in a hot garage, it may have to work harder to stay cold and could wear out sooner.

We learned from our research that many compressors fail early. Placing a fridge somewhere with plenty of space (usually specified by the manual) to allow for sufficient air circulation can help. You can also regularly clear out the dust and debris around a compressor to make sure it’s functioning properly (we suggest using a vacuum). And if you want to install the fridge in your kitchen, make sure it can be built in.

Mr. Appliance’s Steve Johnson also emphasized the importance of closing your fridge’s door after grabbing a bottle, in order to keep the compressor from constantly running. He also said you should check that gaskets were sealed properly. Most fridge doors are magnetic, so you can check the seal by sliding a dollar bill between the door and the inside of the fridge—if there’s a tight seal, the dollar bill should be hard to pull out.

If your fridge has a filter or drip tray, be sure to change it when the manufacturer recommends doing so.

We recognize that wine collections can range widely, so we’ve gathered some other worthy models here, in order of increasing capacity, with a selection of fridges from other notable brands.

24- to 50-bottle fridges

We like that the petite Wine Enthusiast 24-Bottle Compressor Wine Cooler with Upright Bottle Storage has a stand-up storage space, which may be useful for someone with a small collection who prefers to enjoy a bottle over several days. However, it holds only a couple of cases at most, and for the price, it may be worth springing for a larger fridge.

Ashley Santoro and the Strategist recommend the basic Wine Enthusiast 32-Bottle Dual Zone MAX Compressor Wine Cooler. It’s a smaller dual-zone fridge that doesn’t have sliding shelves, so retrieving bottles will be less convenient.

Sold by Costco, the Wine Enthusiast SommSeries 29 Bottle Dual Zone Wine Cellar has good reviews and a longer (two-year) warranty than our picks. It also has a few nicer aesthetic features, like a stainless steel door and amber (instead of blue) LED lighting (this is just an aesthetic choice and doesn’t affect wine). This fridge also has sliding shelves, and it can be built into cabinets if you’d like. But it costs more than twice as much as the 24-bottle Wine Enthusiast model mentioned above—with not that much more capacity.

The Colzer Upgrade 30 Bottle Wine Cooler is high on the Amazon best-seller list, but it’s more expensive than similar-size fridges. It does have a carbon filter and wooden shelves. Many reviewers complain about customer service, so we’re wary of recommending this model.

The Vinothèque Cafe Undercounter Wine Cellar is a 46-bottle fridge from Wine Enthusiast. Tilden explained that its shelves are based on larger pinot bottles. This fridge has beechwood shelves (which absorb vibration and look nicer) and a hygrometer to monitor humidity. It also has a charcoal filter and can be built in.

50-plus-bottle fridges

The Frigidaire Gallery Series FGWC5233TS 52 Bottle is a basic, single-zone wine fridge with sliding shelves. It’s the top seller on appliance retailer AJ Madison’s site, and it comes from a trusted appliance brand. Many of the reviews were collected as part of a promotion, however, and we think the larger size of our picks will be better for collectors.

Compared with our upgrade pick, the EuroCave Performance 59 Built-In Wine Cellar has a few more features, but it is significantly pricier. The Performance is more customizable than the EuroCave Premiere S, however, and this model can be built into your kitchen. You can choose between single or dual zones and a glass, solid, or custom door, and the door is reversible. Unlike the Premiere S, the Performance has a humidity cassette of lava rocks, where you can add moisture to maintain humidity levels, if needed. The Performance has an illuminated control panel like the Premiere S, but you can’t remove the LED lighting.

For maximizing storage, the Wine Enthusiast SommSeries 150 Bottle Dual Zone Wine Cellar with VinoView Display Shelving is a good option. It has a two-year warranty and can be built in or freestanding. At this price point, it might be worth considering a EuroCave model, if you can spring for it.

Fridges from other notable brands

Several experts and people in the Wine Berserkers forum like Danby and Avanti wine fridges. But reviews of the now-discontinued Danby model that’s similar in size to our picks report that the fridge doesn’t hold temperature, and it can freeze wine. Avanti makes fridges that we think are too small or too large for entry-level collectors. But it does offer a five-year warranty for the compressor on most models (there are a few exceptions that come with a one-year warranty; double-check the manuals for more information).

Some appliance brands, such as Sub-Zero, Hestan, and JennAir, have great reputations, but their wine fridges are very expensive (we’re talking twice the cost of our upgrade pick) and are often meant to be built in.

Although people on the Wine Berserkers forum like Le Cache luxury cabinets, none of the experts we spoke with recommended these. For the price, we think you’ll be better off with our highly rated upgrade pick, the EuroCave Premiere S.

We think the NewAir Dual Zone 29-Bottle Built-In Compressor Wine Cooler Fridge, with no notable features besides wooden shelves, is too expensive for the size, and it has a one-year warranty.

We plan to evaluate the EuroCave La Première S Wine Cellar, which has replaced our upgrade pick, the EuroCave Premiere S. The new model has an advertised 98-bottle capacity (though wine fridges tend to hold less than what they say they will). It also has a hygrometer, which its predecessor did not, and improved lighting. We also plan to test the IKEA Numrerad, which has an advertised 52-bottle capacity.