Bar Cabinets With Wine Fridge
Installing a cabinet bar with wine fridge is a great way to keep all your wine-related accessories in one place. Store glasses, corking tools, even books on wine pairing, in this handsome cabinet, with many options to match your decor. Never again go hunting for a cork tool when opening that wine you've saved for a special occasion. It's all right there, in one place.
Buying Guide
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Many bar cabinets have a storage area for wine and allow you to store it properly – on its side. But not all of these wine racks or storage areas are refrigerated. Consider the luxury of a bar cabinet with a wine fridge! No more laying bottles in containers of ice to chill it, no more worrying about your wine stores being spoiled by excessively high temperatures.
The reason for placing a bottle of wine on its side is to keep the cork moist. If the cork dries out, or if ½ the cork dries out, air can enter the bottle, causing the wine to go “off.” In such cases, the wine can oxidize, which can cause it to taste “skunky” or sour. Or, it might even mold, which would render it completely undrinkable. Not all wine should be stored on its side, though. In fact, some champagne makers recommend storing their products upright.
If your bar minifridge has a glass front, be sure to wrap your wine bottles. That will keep sunlight reacting with the phenolic compounds in the wine,
It is believed that loud noises and strong vibrations can adversely affect the wine. While no scientific studies have been done, carefully controlling vibrations or loud noises is recommended. If you go to the Comte Champagne website, their third rule for handling champagne is to not expose it to direct sunlight, vibration or noise.
Of course, you could store your valuable wines in a dedicated cellar location and just use the bar cabinet’s wine fridge for chilling the wine shortly before serving it. Even so, caution should be taken with your fine wines to keep from inadvertently causing them to spoil through improper storage.
Of course, if you are storing a less expensive wine of the type that uses a screw-on cap or bung, then storage might be less critical. Even inexpensive wines, however, can be improved with proper storage – or allowed to spoil with bad storage.
The ideal bar cabinet will have a climate control refrigerator system that would have a space to lay the wine bottles on their sides. It would keep the wine in the dark, and human hands would need to gently turn the bottles occasionally to keep the corks from drying out.
Humidity is also important to keeping your wine from spoiling. No studies have been done about the best humidity for wine, but one authority recommended about 75% humidity.
