Wine Cooler advice

Alan_M_2

I know we have a few kitchen specialists on here so I'm after a little advice about a wine cooler unit.

This is a Christmas present for Mrs M's parents who like a bottle or 10 (as do I - so I also admit an interest in this item).

We would like to spend no more than £250 will stretch to £300 for the right item but no more.

Ideally we'd like something free standing as opposed to built in, preferably slimline (300mm).

It doesn't need to have dual zones, but would be nice....will hold 12-21 bottles.

I don't want a junk brand and having done a bit of Google research and initially drawn to the DIHL coolers, but I've not read a single good word about them in many reviews.....

Current favourite is this Samsung unit from John Lewis:-

http://www.johnlewis.com/230599800/Product.aspx?source=14798

It's a bit big to be honest, but it's a recognised brand from a recognised store, if this was 300mm - 400mm wide I'd have ordered it already.

Any suggestions welcome.

AbbieCadabra

i'm looking for a beer cooler & initially thought the DIHL BF-98 was my answer, but like you, the more i've looked around, all i've found are negative reviews for DIHL! also there are only a few sellers & their websites all ring alarm bells with me as they don't have full contact details?!

off for another look around now...

CKdesigner

Hi Alan

To be honest wine cellars are very expensive products when looked at properly. The best I think are made by a french company called Eurocave, all they make is wine storage products and we are talking thousands £ not hundreds.

The next best manufacturers would be Liebherr and Miele as they look at wine a bit more sensibly with products that are dual zone and with carbon filters and the like.

Anything less than these manufacturers then you are simply buying a fridge with a glass door on the front!

I suppose the reasoning behind it all is, if you can afford to stock a wine storage device then you can afford to do buy a proper one.

Good luck with your search.

CK

moonrakerz

I use the cupboard under the stairs and the 'fridge - that leaves me with £250 to spend on wine .......................

rachbc

if they are wine buffs buy 250 wrth of wine for them! i know which I'd rather have!

Sorry I know thats not much help but as CK says - its basically a fridge with a glass door!

Alan_M_2

CKdesigner wrote: »

Hi Alan

The best I think are made by a french company called Eurocave, all they make is wine storage products and we are talking thousands £ not hundreds.

Well, I'm not surprised to be honest...I checked out the Eurocave website and found this:-

http://www.eurocave.co.uk/acatalog/Petite-cabinet.html

I thought, Oh that's ideal...then noticed it was £1100 which is a bit steep for a Christmas pressie (but it's been added to my favourites:rolleyes:).

I'm going to put a new kitchen in at home next year and would like to incorporate one into the base units, I'll spring for a decent one then.

gardnt1

I bought a 300mm DIHL thermoelectric cooler built in early in 2008 and like you said if I was to review it it wouldnt be brilliant! The thermoelectric one was a single zone, and had trouble maintaining a constant temp...the fans then became noisy, and when i finally got a reply off DIHL or tomyhome, who seem to be DIHL in disguise, i was told to remove back and clean dust off fans!
although at first my reaction was 'why should i do this every time a fan became noisy' , I did and it solved it. Still not happy though i asked to return product and get replacement, but this time opting for their compressor one which although more expensive has proven to be very reliable!

All in all if you can get one for right price with compressor go for it, and many will say, get a fridge..... but they do look nice

CKdesigner

Alan_M wrote: »

Well, I'm not surprised to be honest...I checked out the Eurocave website and found this:-

http://www.eurocave.co.uk/acatalog/Petite-cabinet.html

I thought, Oh that's ideal...then noticed it was £1100 which is a bit steep for a Christmas pressie (but it's been added to my favourites:rolleyes:).

I'm going to put a new kitchen in at home next year and would like to incorporate one into the base units, I'll spring for a decent one then.

Glad to help.

Come and see me when you need your new kitchen!

Mutton_Geoff

We've got a LEC Elan fridge that has a glass door and was sold as a wine/beer fridge for about £150 from the local electrical shop. I tried a quick search but it seems it's discontinued, but plenty of other makes around like Samsung, Baumatic & Bosch which are basically standard fridges with a glass door and different shelves.

The next step up, as CK says, is a proper "fit for purpose" thing but then I wouldn't waste my money on that sort of thing just to chill my <£10 wines.

Undergrowth

I've been a regular user on this site, but never felt the need to post before.

So I too am looking for a chiller, and googled DIHL beer fridges and came across this article. Specifically because I was thinking of buying a DIHL fridge. There is definitely lots of negative info, so it was great to get some neutral, un-biased feedback from kymandeddy.

However with only two posts to this poster’s name, I thought I’d just check what the other post was? A blatant plug for bathroomsuitesdirect.co.uk. Odd, but fair enough. However, call me cynical but I thought I’d just check who owns that domain name? Lo and behold, it’s registered to: To Your Home Ltd.

So thanks Kymandeddy for falsifying your reviews. I was about to buy a Dihl BF-93TS, but thanks to your underhand ways, you’ve just lost a sale. Maybe your products don’t suck anymore, maybe you had teething issues. Why not be honest and explain this? Now I can never trust your company or your websites (which include: www toyourbathroom.com, www toyourhome.com, www kitchensinksdirect.co.uk, www bathroomshowersdirect.co.uk, www wineextras.ie, www wineextras.co.uk and www chimco.co.uk (importers of DIHL Chinese fridges).

Not impressed…

beedeedee

We had a wine cooler from John Lewis a couple of years ago. It carefully stored the wine at about 8C - not cold enough for our tastes in White or Rose, but probably the correct temperature. We saved up and bought a large fridge with a wine rack and it suits us much better. We then stand another wine rack on the bottom shelf.