Customer Reviews

Whynter WC-211DZ 21 Bottle Dual Temperature Zone Wine Cooler, Stainless Steel Trimmed Glass Door with Black Cabinet

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Purchased the Whynter WC-211DZ 21 bottle wine cooler for a couple of reasons. It was sized right to fit in a space just below my kitchen counter top and the reviews giving Whynter products more favorable ratings over competing products. The Whynter is working well keeping both zones at my 58 degrees F setting which is my preferred setting for red wines. I would rate the quality of the Whynter good but not great. The slide out shelves feel kind of cheap. For this price point I'm still waiting for a product with slightly higher quality. The Whynter is fairly quiet although you can hear it running. As another reviewer mentioned the Whynter is designed for normal size bottles. It outputs a little heat out the side vents but nothing drastic. At this point I'm happy with my purchase. I will report back if I have any longevity problems.

Update 11/19/2011:
The unit is still going strong. No real complaints. As I mentioned in the earlier review the only minor annoyance is that the shelves don't accommodate every bottle size but I usually can figure out a way to get 99% of bottles loaded.

I just purchased the Whynter 21 Bottle Dual Temperature Zone Wine Cooler (Model #WC-211DZ) from Amazon.com. As always, there was a quick shipping time with Amazon. This wine cooler looks great. Silver, slim, and nice visual addition to any kitchen or bar area. However, in reality, there are definitely some areas that it falls short.

1. This wine cooler will fit ONLY "traditional" bottles. That means it will NOT fit Champagne bottles, sparkling wine, Muscat bottles (longer than traditional bottles), port, traditional chianti bottles, etc.

2. While this cooler holds 21 bottles, the metal racks only accommodate 18 bottles. Whynter designed this unit so that you place the last three bottles on the floor of the unit, NOT on a shelf. There is a track there for a shelf, but the unit only comes with 6 shelves (3 bottles on each) instead of the 7 shelves it should have. Not only does this not look as attractive, it makes it more cumbersome to look at the wine, as you cannot just slide the metal shelf out.

3. The metal trays do not slide in or out easily, making it a bit difficult to look at the wines on each shelf.

If you only drink red wine or white wine in traditional bottles and you are looking for your first wine cooler, than this is likely a good choice for you. If you are more of a wine enthusiast and like to store several types of wine, particularly champagne, I would NOT recommend this unit. I never would have thought that a traditional champagne bottle wouldn't fit in a wine cooler. Alas, I now have no place to store all my sparkling wines.

I purchased the Whynter WC-211 DZ 21 about a year ago after extensive research. You've probably already read the specs on this item so I'll skip straight to my impressions.

Pros:

Price. This is by far the most affordable serious wine fridge in this class. You could easily spend several times more on a "serious" unit but for a novice to moderate wine lover who wants to go to the next level this is definitely a viable fridge at a decent price.

Looks. This fridge looks bonafied in our kitchen. The temp gauges are a tad bright but I don't mind. With the lights on it looks techy and modern. It actually makes a decent night light in the kitchen and matches the blue LEDs on our other appliances. With the lights off it's more subtle but still looks slick and cool.

Dual Zone. It really works. My choice? Reds on the top at 55, whites and other colder wines on the bottom at 50. Nice.

Bottle size. Other reviewers have lamented the depth of the cooler and the fact that it limits the size of bottle it can hold. While it's true that you can't fit the longest bottles in this cooler, it will definitely hold bottles that are moderately fat or long. It's not a big issue for me.

Cons:

Temp limits. While 44 degrees isn't bad, I wish you could choose to cool all the way down to 35 for champagne and other cold-served wines. Of course the solution is that you just pop the bottle out of the Whynter and into the refrigerator for an hour and you're set.

Sound level. I was surprised how loud this cooler is. It is at least as loud if not a bit louder than the full-sized refrigerator a few feet away. It's not too bad but definitely noticeable.

Cheezy construction. If you use it much the construction feels fairly cheap - especially the racks.

Filters. The cooling unit on this fridge is so borderline that the air filters in the back must be almost perfectly clean for it to work properly. I had only had it a few months when I noticed that the temps had started to inch up. Over time the temps rose to nearly room temperature. Eventually, I pulled the unit out and noted that the two filters were pretty dusty. I cleaned them and within an hour the fridge was down to it's normal temps. Now, as soon as I see the temps rise a degree above the set temp I clean the filters. The first time this happened I thought it was a faulty unit and that I was going to have to send it back (a complaint I've seen about these fridges in other reviews) but once I figured out that it was the filters I have had no other issues. Not a deal breaker but something to keep in mind - especially if your install is such that it's not easy to slide it out and back.

Conclusion

I guess it all comes down to the question "knowing what I know now would I buy this wine fridge again"? The answer is YES. Despite it's flaws this is a serious entry level wine fridge and for it's price I don't think you could do any better.

We ordered this in October 2010 and it has run incredibly well ever since we received it. The two zones works perfectly, and its slim size fits under our counter.

We've been most amazed by how quiet it is: you can hear it when the room is totally quiet, but even then, it's tough to hear. The lack of a compressor makes a huge difference but does not affect the cooling efficiency at all. It's nice to have properly chilled wine and champagne within easy reach.

The digital readout started to malfunction a bit after about three and a half months. I sent an email to their support team, and a new digital display was shipped out via UPS the same day I emailed them! They were polite and responsive in their emails and handled our issue with speed and interest. It does my heart good to see there still really is good customer service in this world.

I recommend this unit highly and recommend this manufacturer even more. They are honest and take customer service seriously.

I was skeptical about buying a wine cooler site unseen but after comparing prices with those available at stores, this was kinda of a no-brainer. Package arrived quick and intact, thanks Amazon! I was mildly stunned when I opened the unit. I was not quite expecting something that looked as sharp as what I received. Love the stainless steel racks and handle, extremely sophisticated appearance. Not only was this considerably cheaper than than the in store models but this looked twice as good. I put the pieces together and got it running in no time.

It ran silent as one would expect for a thermoelectric and cooled down decently. Temperatures were spot on too. I was tempted to install this in cabinet but realized that the vents would require some clearance. Not a big deal as this looks great on it's own. The shelves are designed for the standard 750ml bottle but are completely removable so I can mix and match to store whatever size bottles I need to.

This far outweighed my expectations in almost all aspects. AAA+++!

Chose this one over several similar sized models due to heavier and possibly more durable construction. It's a very nice unit and does the job silently. It's having no trouble keeping a temperature of 56F in both zones and I have it situated in my basement storage room. I don't hear it when I stand in the room and it's cosmetically nice enough with the metal finish to keep it in a bar area or family room. The trays are pretty solid/sturdy, but a non-standard wine bottle might not fit well due to narrow clearances. Only difficulty I had with setup is that the 4th foot did not come attached, is sized differently from the others, and doesn't screw into an intuitive location. The brief manual/instructions don't tell you where it goes either. Customer service was helpful, but it took about 24hr to get a response-- they told me that someone else had just called with an identical question and they were planning to revise the instructions-- the answer is ...it screws into the bottom of the door hinge, not the base of the unit. Otherwise, not a single problem in the month or so I've owned it.

This is a great product. I like the two temperatures and the slim profile. The packaging was very good. Only downside is that it will not hold some of the odd shaped bottles.

Perfect size for keeping a few bottles chilled for drinking. Can't believe how much difference a few degrees makes in the taste of red wine. Shelves are a little difficult to slide but super quiet and convenient.

The Whynter WC-211DZ 21 bottle wine cooler arrived on time and securely. Unpacking and installing the unit was fairly easy; the most difficult part was leveling the unit on an uneven hard surface under the kitchen cabinets. Be sure to allow the unit the necessary clearance in the back, sides and/or top. I had to pull the cooler out slightly to ensure the top unit in which I store white wine would be colder than the lower unit, in which I store red wine. The cooler maintains a 8 degree differential between the two storage areas (58/50 degrees). As others have mentioned, wide or unusually shaped bottles will require you to remove a rack.

While I am pleased with the look and fit of the unit, it does operate almost continuously and does generate some noise. Whether it continues to work over time is the big question. For now, I am pleased with both the unit.

I have had the cooler since Christmas and so far I am well pleased. It looks great and works great. Only minor complaints are, a little noisy and the shelves are somewhat hard to pull out.