Wine Gadgets

Reviews of wine openers, gadget and items for improving and enhancing your wine drinking experience.

Gadget Review: NewAir Thermoelectric Wine Cooler

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41juTL4Yg-LNewAir Thermoelectric Wine Cooler

Model: AW-281E

AVERAGE COST: $200-$250

What they say about it: 

Store your wine selection in the beautifully crafted NewAir AW-281E 28 bottle single zone stainless steel wine cooler and enjoy superior results. This single zone wine cooler offers a sleek, compact design to complement home decor and custom storage options for personalized use. Featuring thermoelectric cooling, this cooler operates quietly and is vibration free for the best possible results. Interior Light – Show off your wine collection with the NewAir AW-281E wine cooler, which features a built-in LED light. It also increases visibility, making it easier to find the bottle you are looking for in your collection. Increased Insulation and UV Protection – Protect your wine from UV damage with the double paned glass window. This also offers increased insulation properties for improved temperature control. Stylish Design – This wine cooler features a sophisticated look with a black cabinet, stainless steel trim and chrome plated racks. Thermoelectric Technology – The NewAir AW-281E wine cooler offers a thermoelectric cooling system with few moving parts. This results in quiet operation and less vibration.

What I say about it: 

I picked up this 28-Bottle Wine Fridge on sale on Amazon.com. Amazon Prime gave me free 2-Day shipping which rocks when your main car is a convertible VW Bug whose trunk is smaller than your average laundry basket and whose backseat is likewise small. Buying retail might have required another vehicle (or at least the top down) just to get it home. The NewAir AW-281E is compact, efficient and very quiet. It fit perfectly under my kitchen island counter after removing the screw-in feet, meant for leveling, since I neglected to realize 29.2 inches and 29 inches are two totally different things.

As you can see from the picture above the Wine Cooler features 6 shelves to store your wine in addition to the bottom of the fridge for the 7th row. My only gripe is that the shelves allow for your average grocery store bottle of wine but some wider bottles made fitting four bottle on a shelf a little bit of a challenge. Fitting four champagne bottles on a shelf in addition to 20 bottles of wine required a shelf to be removed and some balancing of the bottles of bubbly on their shelf. So in the end I am only able to fit 24 bottles at this time.

The NewAir AW-281E Wine Cooler is very quiet. I barely notice it running when the compressor turns on. It’s stayed at 54 F with very little fluctuation. If you do prefer your reds at a lower temperature, to properly store your wine and to keep whites adequately chilled (pop them in the fridge for 5-10 minutes if you like them cooler), this is a great wine cooler in the $200-$300 range.

Would Bukowski use it? A fridge just for wine? What the hell is that all about?

Overall Rating: 4 Buks

4-BUKS

Gadget Review: Corkcicle Wine Chiller

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Wine-Cork-Corkcicle-xl3Corkcicle Wine Chiller

AVERAGE PRICE: $24.95

 What they say about it:

Chill any bottle of wine to the perfect temperature with the innovative, plastic Corkcicle wine tool.

The first of its kind, Corkcicle is an innovative product designed to keep your white wines chilled and bring your room temperature reds down to a more suitable “cellar” temperature, without the need for an ice bucket. Ice buckets often make white wine too cold, masking the flavors and complexities of the wine, not to mention they are messy and bulky. With Corkcicle, wines are chilled from the inside of the bottle so you can enjoy perfectly chilled wine every time.

What I say about it:

My fiancée received this in a Fancy box subscription she gets monthly. We popped it in the freezer and decided to try it out. First flaw – it doesn’t and I guess isn’t actually intended to chill white wine. It will keep white wine “cool” or accurate “cooler” than if the bottle did not have the Corkcicle in it. Second flaw – do not insert the Corkcicle in the bottle if the wine bottle is full. This will result in the Corkcicle displacing it’s volume in wine all over you and your floor. Overall I found the Corkcicle pretty useless, although it does actually chill (whatever) wine (is left) in your bottle for a short period of time.

Would Bukowski use it?    Chill my wine? Just give me the bottle.

Overall Rating: 1 BUK

1-BUK