Wine refrigerators and wine cellars provide separate functions with the essential difference between the two being the optimal length of storage as well as the temperature at which bottles are cached. Generally speaking, sparkling wine, champagne, and lighter bodied white wines such as pinot grigio’s are at their best when they are chilled to a temperature range of 40 to 45 degrees. Full-bodied chardonnays, on the other hand, should be served at temperatures that are about 10 degrees warmer.
Considering that the family refrigerator will normally run at temperatures between 36 and 40 degrees and a wine cellar should maintain a range of 55 to 65 degrees, the best solution for serving these types wine at their optimal temperature will be a wine refrigerator. These refrigerators come in a variety of sizes, with storage capacities ranging from 6 to 200 bottles.
Despite the fact that a wine refrigerator will enable white wines to be served at their best temperatures, it will not be the best choice for the long term storage of a collection. This work is best left for a wine cellar with an environment of 55 to 60 degrees and a humidity level that consistently hovers around 70%, because long term storage at lower temperatures in a wine refrigerator can mute the flavors and varying levels of humidity can lead to a drying out of the corks.
For serious wine collectors, the best solution is to go with a wine refrigerator and a wine cellar. The availability of both storage options allows for bottles of sparkling wine, champagne, and white wine that are ready to be served to be rotated from the cellar to the wine refrigerator where they can be chilled to their optimal temperatures. Bottles that will be aged, as well as the red wines that are ready to be served, can be stored in the cellar, giving the collector perfect wine storage solutions for both the long and short term.
