Customer Reviews

Vinotemp 60 Bottle Wine Cellar, White

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(15)

 

 

I purchased this item (in black) from Amazon.com and was so disappointed that I ended up returning it. Kudos to Amazon. They paid for return shipping and even reimbursed me for additional packing materials I needed to buy. Now, on to the review.

If you know a little about wine storage, you know that the ideal temperature for red wine storage is 55 degrees (Ideal drinking temperature is 60F). This is important, because if like me, you are purchasing the fridge for red wine storage only, you need to know that only the top 2 shelves maintain this temperature. With the digital thermostat set to 55, the mid and lower sections will drop an additional 10 degrees or more. Way too cool for red wine. So, immediately, your storage capacity is reduced from 60 bottles to say 12 (depending on bottle size).

In the end, I purchased a much smaller fridge, capacity 16 bottles. Because of its small size, it maintains almost the same temperature throughout (top to bottom). When I need more storage, I will buy another small wine fridge. A slightly more expensive option is to buy a fridge with an interior fan (to circulate the air), but these are hard to come by in this price range. If you are really serious about your wine, you'll want humidity control (which this fridge doesn't have). 55-75% humidity is ideal for wine storage as it prevents the corks from drying out and spoiling the contents.

The next major problem with this fridge is the racking. I placed two bottles of wine on the top shelf. The bottles dropped through the racking, and came crashing to the bottom of the fridge. I'm not sure what the interior is made of, but the impact of the bottles left two large dents in the floor of the fridge.

Of the dozen or so wine fridges I've looked at in the past few months, this has to be the worst.

Richard McGrath

http://www.richardmcgrath.com/

I have owned 2 Vinotemp products that quit working properly within 18 months of purchase: a 24-bottle wine cellar that stopped working entirely at 18 months and most recently, the 60-bottle (Model VT60) that started malfunctioning just after the 12 month warranty expired.

Vinotemp was of no use nor would they stand behind their product. No one locally services the Vinotemp product, leaving the buyer to work on thier own unit if necessary. Vinotemp didn't provide proper technical information (NO customer support to speak of), nor would they return phone calls. Vinotemp advised me I needed one part, when in fact, I really needed another. Although they made the errors, they wouldn't take the part back unless I paid for shipping, and I was subject to a 35% restocking fee. Even though I have correspondence from them stating what I needed, they claimed I gave them the wrong information. Even their CEO tried passing the blame, and it was her email that initially gave me the wrong technical information!

Vinotemp communicated to me that these units are produced in China to meet customer requests for smaller units, and because they aren't manufactured directly by their high-end factory in Los Angeles, the customer gets what they pay for! Nice to know that Vinotemp is giving their cutsomers a single finger salute! After months of trying to deal with them, I just threw out the wrong part in frustration and purchased a different unit from another manufacturer.

As for the capacity of the VT60, it does not hold 60 bottles unless you're storing nothing but Pinot Noir/Burgundy and/or Chardonnay bottles (for those who aren't familair with the difference, think tapered bottles versus bottles with "shoulders", which include Cabernet Sauvignon/Bordeaux bottles). You will NOT be able to store 60 bottles if you have a combination of Cab and Pinot bottles. If holding capacity is truly a concern, research other units to ensure you can store what the manufacturer claims you can based on your storage needs.

Bottom line...buyer beware. In my experience, you'll only get 18 months at best out of their product, and Vinotemp failed to stand by or support their product. They refused to accept responsibility for their errors and apparently expect their customers to be experts on the Vinotemp product to be able to walk their Service Dept people through the replacement part ordering process. I suggest you look at another manufacturer. Your time, money, and frustration-level will be better served elsewhere dealing with a company that markets a reliable product who values the ideals of customer support and brand loyalty.

I bought one of these. It stopped working after about 18 months.

Vinotemp would not recommend anyone for service. Called someone, who got the wrong part twice. Called someone else, he (I hope) figured out the right part. Vinotemp will not send part without signed and faxed papers. Part and shipping is under $30.

Vinotemp appears to me to be a rinky dink outfit whose stuff is hard to service.

I purchased this item from Amazon.com and was so disappointed that I ended up returning it. Kudos to Amazon. They paid for return shipping and even reimbursed me for additional packing materials I needed to buy. Now, on to the review.

If you know a little about wine storage, you know that the ideal temperature for red wine storage is 55 degrees (Ideal drinking temperature is 60F). This is important, because if like me, you are purchasing the fridge for red wine storage only, you need to know that only the top 2 shelves maintain this temperature. With the digital thermostat set to 55, the mid and lower sections will drop an additional 10 degrees or more. Way too cool for red wine. So, immediately, your storage capacity is reduced from 60 bottles to say 12 (depending on bottle size).

In the end, I purchased a much smaller fridge, capacity 16 bottles. Because of its small size, it maintains almost the same temperature throughout (top to bottom). When I need more storage, I will buy another small wine fridge. A slightly more expensive option is to buy a fridge with an interior fan (to circulate the air), but these are hard to come by in this price range. If you are really serious about your wine, you'll want humidity control (which this fridge doesn't have). 55-75% humidity is ideal for wine storage as it prevents the corks from drying out and spoiling the contents.

The next major problem with this fridge is the racking. I placed two bottles of wine on the top shelf. The bottles dropped through the racking, and came crashing to the bottom of the fridge. I'm not sure what the interior is made of, but the impact of the bottles left two large dents in the floor of the fridge.

Of the dozen or so wine fridges I've looked at in the past few months, this has to be the worst.

Richard McGrath

http://www.richardmcgrath.com/

The Vinotemp 60 Bottle Wine Cellar was a good purchase for the price. It's very quiet and the cooling system within the unit seems to be consistent.

My only issue with the wine cellar is that it claims the unit can hold 60 bottles however it's a very tight squeeze. I would say the unit holds about 50-55 bottles. The shelving has two design issues:

1.)the shelves are not spaced far enough apart to hold non-standard shaped bottles of wine.

2.)the shelves are not concaved enough to keep the bottles from rolling.

All the same, I'm satisfied with the purchase and would recommend the Vinotemp Wine Cellar.

This thing worked fine for a couple of years--then I came home to find 7 bottles of wine frozen solid! No warning, no sign of any problems except a little bit louder noise from the compressor. Vinotemp literally laughed over the phone--all they cared about was whether it was still under warranty. Absolutely no concern, no ownership of the problem. I'll never buy another product from them and I recommend you don't either. What idiot would build a wine cellar that even has the capability to freeze? What a lousy product. I bought the damn thing to keep wine from going bad and now I have 7 bottles ruined for sure and 51 more that are probably not worth drinking.

To the reviewer who "disagreed" with other reviewers who'd described problems--watch out! I would have written the same thing last week. Now I know better.

I must first say - we DID NOT purchase this from Amazon. We purchased from Costco and have yet to return it.

Our cooler read "LL" yesterday and we didn't know what was going on? I checked the Vinotemp manual - nothing. I checked the Vinotemp website - nothing. So I searched in Google and Yahoo for "Vinotemp "LL"" - and thank goodness the Amazaon reviews came up so I could start to learn about this problem.

I immediately unplugged the unit. Checked it - it was 22 degrees at the bottom! Thankfully our wine was not frozen yet. I've yet to crack one to see if it's ruined. If it is - there'll be a lawsuit on Vinotemp's hands. I've got multiple magnums of Silver Oak at the bottom. And 80's italian and ca pinot noir midway. So, over $3000.00 in wine stored here.

I'm going to "buck up" and purchase a reliable unit, with good reviews in the wine community.

I'd say DO NOT even buy this unit if you're storing "3 Buck Chuck".

I bought this in Aug 2005 from Costco. Tonight I found the dreaded "LL" and 6 bottles with the corks popped. Another 10 or so bottles frozen with the corks pushing out. The fact that it can tell it is getting too cold but will not do anything about it is ridiculous. I will be taking this back to Costco and they will be giving me a no questions asked refund. But who will pay for the lost bottles and the my time and effort to get it out of my basement bar up the stairs and to costco.

I am going to Uline even if it is 3 times more expensive it is worth it.

This unit, which I bought at Costco, also just froze all my bottles of wine. The display reads "LL." It seems difficult to believe that they would even manufacture a product that can get down to those temperatures. I would strongly caution anyone from buying this unit!

Do not buy any products made by Vinotemp! My first unit BROKE within 3 weeks. The thermostat stopped working and the temperature rapidly dropped to 40 degrees. I returned it myself to the manufacturer and the employees were extremely rude! After returning home with my replacement, I found this new one has a big dent in the top. Vinotemp has zero customer service and terrible, faulty products. Do yourself a big favor and do NOT buy a Vinotemp.