Customer Reviews

Vinotemp 32-Bottle Wine Cellar, Black

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I was pleased with the unit for the first two years I owned it, but then it stopped cooling. I called Vinotemp and they basically said I was on my own - they would not even try to help me find someone in my area to repair it. I can't find anyone reputable to even look at it. I wish I had spent a little extra money and gotten a better brand that could be repaired.

This wine cellar is a great size to fit in existing cabinetry. It holds a good number of bottles and keeps them all cool. I'm not certain that the "zone" feature, where reds are slightly warmer than whites, works very well, and the cooler doesn't chill whites quite as much as I would like.

All that said, it does a good job for a moderately priced wine cooler and the black finish looks nice in my kitchen. I have been generally pleased with the performance and think the cellar is a good value for the money.

The best thing about this wine cellar is that it has all the basic features in the best size and layout. It arrived in excellent packaging, which is important for online ordering of wine cellars - inclusive of full styrofoam padding and a teflon-like bottom on the box which allowed me to slide it around (and the Fedex guy liked the design) until I figured out where to put it. The layout allows for five bottles per rack. I am intending this soley for my red wines that I want to have ready for serving at 55-60 degrees, and they are perfect. Yes, it's a bit cooler on the bottom racks, but it works for me. Vibration is minimal, and the compressor/cooler is quiet. The interior light is a nice touch. Living in NYC where space is a premium, this is a great fit for my apartment. You'll definitely have to chill your whites in the fridge or in an ice bucket for additional cooling... but it offers a great serving temp for reds.

I've only had it a few weeks, so hard to give a long range opinion. unit came in a day(!) and looks great. I have been monitoring the temperature with a portable thermometer to compare it to the LED. The unit is running hotter than the LED reads, but has been consistent. I have called Vinotemp for feedback, but have found their customer service folks to be incompetent. If I wanted a top of the line unit it would have cost 2.5x the money, so I am content with this item.

Having moved into an 17 yr. old home, my wife and I looked at the trash compactor and said why? This cellar fit perfectly in space of the old compactor and provided a somewhate dated kitchen with a great new look.

This is not wine cooler, so do not compare to cheaper alternatives you might see at a home center or discount club. It is a wine cellar created to house small groupings of wine in an attractive manner. The lower levels keep white wines at drinkable level (I prefer another 30 minutes of chilling for most sauvignon blancs, reislings and sparkling wines). The 3 upper levels keep reds at a nice digitally controlled temperature.

If you enjoy wine, your space is limited and want to display some bottles in your kitchen in a controlled environment, this is the winner.

After initial connection to AC source the internal light was ON all the time, even when the door was closed and the light ON/OFF switch was in the OFF position.
I found the problem to be the door switch had been installed incorrectly (upside down) and was able to reverse it myself after some effort in taking the bottom panel off. Other than that the product seems to function well. It is just the right size and has an elegant look to it.

I would not buy another Vinotemp. I have been disappointed from day 1 -it's too noisy for a kitchen and the temperature fluctuates at least 10 degrees day to day. It seams to have a mind of its own deciding what temperature to stay at. I don't mean between the top and bottom, the thermometer I'm using to check its accuracy is in the middle and doesn't get moved. I've called them and their customer service leaves a lot to be desired. Spend the extra $$$ and get a quality wine fridge - you'll be much happier in the long run.

Delta Mike

We have only had our Vinotemp installed for about a month (we use it as a built-in in our kitchen), and it is so noisy when it is running that my husband wants to get rid of it.

Also, we keep setting the temperature on 64 and it keeps dropping back down into the 50s. It apparently has a mind of its own on what temperature it should be set on.

We like the look and size of this unit, but so far we are very unhappy with its performance.

After seeing a wine refrigerator at a friend's house at Thanksgiving in 2008, I
told my husband that it would be fun for us to get something like that at a
(much) later date. However, Christmas was approaching, and my husband thought it
would be fun to surprise me with this (very expensive for us) lovely gift.

My husband did a great deal of research into wine refrigerators and thought
that, based on the information on the Vinotemp website, purchasing a unit directly from them would be the best thing to do. He ordered the unit directly from Vinotemp in December 2008, but we did not receive it until mid-to-late January 2009.

Once we received the unit, we followed the instructions in unpacking and setting
it up. Once it was plugged in, the bottom unit never would cool below 65
degrees, although the top unit would go down to 45 degrees. It was very annoying
that the bottom (larger space) would not go below 65, but we just assumed that
it was a feature and that most people were more interested in cooling red wines
and not whites. About six months later, the bottom motor stopped working. I
ordered a replacement motor. That one stopped working about two months later,
and the top motor also stopped working. We had a number of other personal issues
around that time and just pushed the wine cooler issues to the side. Several
months ago, I ordered two more motors. The unit is still not working.

Vinotemp offered to fix the unit for "free", but we would have to pay shipping to them and then to have it shipped back to us, for a total of about $200. At that cost, we could purchase a unit FROM ANOTHER COMPANY and just be done with it. Very unsatisfactory customer service and even worse product.

Buy this, and you'll be sorry!

I've had my Vinotemp for 5 years now and it's worked flawlessly. I've read some other reviews that said the compressor was noisy or that it didn't stay at the set temperature. All I can say is that I have had absolutely no problems, it runs so quietly that I don't even know when it's on, and it stays fairly close to the temperature that I set it. I use a separate temp gauge to monitor the temp. and it stays within 2-3 degrees after I get it set correctly (large temp swings within the house such as hot 100F summer days will cause it to swing as well, but I feel that's to be expected).

I'm selling my house and I like my Vinotemp so much that I'm buying another for my new house. After reading some of the reviews here that reported issues with their Vinotemp I felt compelled to write a review to report the good luck that I've had with mine. On top of that it's a great value compared to other models out there selling for $800 to $1400.