alt.food.wine - Pan S... I have a California Cellars that I bought through Wine Enthusiast and my supplier. I'm very satisfied. If you ahve a regular wine dealer, talk to them. They generally have a realtionship with someone that can be used to your advantage price-wise. The dealer has an incentive in that they figure they'll be selling you mor wine. Definetly go for at least twice the number of bottle you currently "have under the stairs". Two dozen cases seemed like a lot to me ... until I filled it up. You can get really fancy-shmancy with the door (glass etc.) but a plain wood finish that matches your furniture is a good idea. If you order a custom built ask for it unfinished and get a local refinisher to match your furniture (or do it yourself.) Mine is in the dining room ( accessible to the table ) and visible from the lving room (to show off). Get a lock for the door if you have kids ... or friends who would open your Romanee-Conti without knowing what they've done to your pocket book. Once you get over 250 bottles, they get kind of hard to push around even with wheels. Generally you won't be moving this thing too much so size isn't a consideration except to fit it in someplace.My California Cellars custom job was $2k even with the shipping. Came to about 6.50/bottle including nice racking.

alt.food.wine - Chris ... I just bought and received a Eurocave 260 unit. I have only had it for a couple weeks so can't offer any long term opinions, but here are my two cents. *The capacity numbers are deceiving. The 260 capacity for instance is based on their basic configuration, which would, I think, require that you essentially stack your bottles on the 3 or so stationary shelves it comes with. I'm sure this isn't unique to the Eurocave, but none of them make it very clear from the literature. I bought the 6 Sliding Shelves option, which is about $360 extra and reduces capacity to closer to 200, but is much more convenient and shows your wine nicely. *While the sales and customer service people were very helpful, the shipping was a bit of a debacle. THey use a moving company (Beacons, etc) who deliver to a local mover, who contact you for delivery. CHECK THE UNIT THROUGHLY! On My first delivery there were 2 gaping holes in the box, which corresponded to the holes in the unit. My 2nd delivery had a crushed top corner edge. They finally got it right ion the 3rd try - but this was 6-7 weeks after the 1st ship date. *Finally, while I had an idea, size-wise of the unit and a pretty spacious room for its home, I was surprised just how deep it is.

alt.food.wine - Herbert ... I have an Eurocave cellar and I'm satisfied, but in the german market you will find better and of course more expansive ones. They are in every case not the best.

alt.food.wine - Dick N... I have a Eurocave unit in North Carolina in my garage. They are avail thru the Wine Enthusiast. They heat and cool to the deisred temp and have humidity control that protects the cork. Mine is 3 years old and so far real good.

alt.food.wine - Nuuanu ... I have also owned a Eurocave since about 1988. It runs very quiet. Doesn't seem to use much electricity and has done a great job of keeping wines at right temperature and at right humidity. I have not had any problems with it. It is also a smaller unit which holds somewhere between 100 to 150 bottles. Any more and it would be packed to the gills and the wine would be hard to remove.

alt.food.wine - Scott ...Bought one of their smaller units ("Eurocave 140") in 1989. Still running fine. Very quiet.

alt.food.wine - Douglas ...Excellent piece of equipment. Even in Texas it kept my wine dead on 55 degrees. Still works great!!

alt.food.wine - James ...We have a unit in our office. It has been running for the last 10 years without a flaw. In the beginning the unit collected water at the bottom but after we insulated the door with addition 'foam tape' the problem was gone.

alt.food.wine - zoomtac ... I have been an unsatisfied customer of a Koolspace wine fridge for the past year. So are many friends of mine who bought the same fridge together. The fridge has started to develop cooling problems since my second month of purchase. The dealer is no longer available in my country. So any one out there, think twice before you invest in Koolspace!!

Jeffrey J. writes ... I have a Koolspace 50 with which I've been horribly disappointed. The cooling unit konked out after 18 months, although Kookspace repaired it for free (except for shipping charges, of course). Now, however, my wine is going bad inexplicably. I'm not sure, but think it's due to temperature fluctuations. In any event, I'm looking for a new cellar with less temperature variance.

July 15, 2005 ... in accordance with the "fairness" statement at the start of this page, the following was sent in by Ben Argov, President of Le Cache.

" In November 2004, Le Cache launched its redesigned line of premium, climate-controlled wine cabinets. Each wine cabinet now incorporates innovative new features and upgrades, offers all-inclusive pricing and will be shipped within two days of purchase.

Premium features such as hand-stained cherry wood and hardwood cherry doors, double-pane tinted glass, all-wood univ ersal racking and an advanced digital cooling system now come standard on all Le Cache cellars – at significant savings to comparable products. Buyers typically pay hundreds to thousands of dollars extra for such features, which are sold separately by other manufacturers as individual components. Le Cache also promises to ship each order within two days of purchase, compared to the industry average of six to eight weeks.

Customer feedback played a significant role in the design of Le Cache’s new product line. For example, Le Cache reengineered its wine cabinets using SB/0 ™ Technology to allow its wine cabinets to be placed flush against the wall in response to complaints that existing wine cabinets, which require up to six inches of clearance between the wine cabinet and the wall, are too intrusive. Le Cache also designed its all-wood racking to accommodate not only standard Bordeaux bottles, but also increasingly popular larger bottle sizes, such as Burgundy and Champagne bottles. These changes represent major advances in the at-home wine storage industry and further establish Le Cache’s reputation for being a leader in innovation and quality.

The new products from Le Cache include wine cabinets ranging in size from 172 to 622 bottles. Each wine cabinet comes in a choice of hand-stained finishes designed to highlight the beautiful grain of natural cherry wood.

Le Cache has been building premium wine cabinets since 1991. We are committed to building high-quality products, offering straightforward pricing, and delivering excellent service to our customers. To learn more, please visit our website at www.le-cache.com or ca ll us toll-free at 1.877.532.2243."

alt.food.wine - Don E. .... I have had a LeCache 400 for 4 years now. The unit works fine, but is pretty noisy. As I have it in a pantry off the kitchen, that is not a problem. Mine was purchased from IWA, but service, the one time it was required, came from Blue Sabre, the manufacturer in Covina CA. A few months after we received it, it developed an air leak from a warped door. The problem may have been partly my fault, as the door had been improperly latched. Nevertheless, when I contacted Blue Sabre, the man there (I believe it was Brad Freeburne) hopped in his pickup, drove from CA to Tucson with a styrofoam piece cut to fit the opening, took my door, straightened it, put it back on, and drove back to CA. The whole process took one weekend. Since then, the unit has worked fine, keeping my wine at 55 deg F.

Stephen C. of Texas writes ... I recently purchased a Le Cache 800 and am more than satisfied with the quality, beauty, and durability of my cellar. I purchased it through IWA and am very happy with the service and follow-up they provided before during and after the purchase. There was a slight issue because the delivery people weren't equipped to handle such a large cellar but on their second delivery attempt, they came with both proper tools and personnel to deliver the cellar. The IWA salesperson followed up with me after the failed first delivery and made sure that I was taken care of. I didn't get custom racking so all the magnums and champagnes have to sit on top of the rack, which is just as well because I have always felt that those larger bottles were more chummy with other than with the standard wine bottles. I felt that the expenditure on the stand alone unit was more than justified by saving myself the monthly cost of storage and cutting down on the need to travel to the storage are to get wines for those special occasions or to put them up. Thanks for listening! .. if anyone has any questions they can email Steve at ... scrowder@redneckwineclub.org

alt.food.wine - Paul H ... I have a Vinotemp and 2 vinotheque and believe that it is the quality of the refrigeration unit which is most important so buy the storage unit of your choice with the deluxe or most expensive refrigeration for more stable wine storage!

alt.food.wine - Jim O ... I bought my Vinotemp in late 1995, at a time when we were keeping about 220-250 bottles on hand. So I got a "model 700" -- holds about 610 bottles. And the advice was right on target -- within 18 months, we had filled the darned thing, with better quality wines built to lay down for a longer time. In fact, I had two small (25 bottle capacity) units that I was ready to sell, and instead we put them in the garage -- and they're full, too.....

alt.food.wine - Fred C ... I have about a week's worth of experience with a Vinotemp and in that time have learned a few things that might be useful. Bought the most basic 700 bottle unit, unfinished and with none of the available "frills". Had it delivered and stuck it in my garage. Put three coats of polyurethane on the outside (If you've ever done any furniture refinishing or simply varnished wood before and had it come out to your satisfaction, I would recommend doing this yourself. It was a piece of cake, as the bare wood surface arrived clean, smooth and ready to go. All I did was wipe it down with some paint thinner before putting the first coat on. I used a satin finish, clear polyurethane (Varathane) and sanded lightly between coats.) After the third coat was very dry I took it apart and moved it into what used to be known as my son's bedroom; now known as "The Vinotemp Room". One thing I would do differently is go out and buy a good T-handle hex wrench (I used one of the standard L-shaped hex wrenches and, while it worked, took considerably longer and increased the chance of stripping one of the bolts, which I didn't do because the guys that delivered it gave me three extras in case I did strip some.) The order for disassembly: 1. Wood strip with metal plate on it to which the doors seal and latch. 2. Doors 3. Racks 4. Sides 5. Top (taped to the back and takes a bit of tugging to break free). 6. Bottom/back (lay it over on its side and be careful getting the back free of the bottom as it also has double sided tape; don't forget to remove the bolts on the bottom). Once it was all disassembled, I had no problem moving all the pieces into place with the possible exception of the large rack, which is hard to do alone due to its bulk and weight. A second person is useful here. Reassembly is the reverse of disassembly with the exception of the cooling unit (not installed upon delivery), which I put in before installing the racks. Again, a one man job with the possible exception of the large rack. Speaking of racks, I had the top two rows converted to the next size larger hole, which causes you to lose one slot in each row, but allows you to store oversize (not magnums) bottles in slots rather than piled on top one another. I lettered the rows from bottom to top and numbered the columns from left to right. Filled it from bottom to top, putting bottles in randomly rather than by variety or vintner. Took about four hours to verify my inventory and fill it...yup, it's full. So much for expansion. Once full, plugged it in and the cooling unit fired right up. Took about 24 hours to lower the temperature to about 65 degrees, another 12 to 60 and then it stabilized at 58. The bad news: the unit has now been running continuously for three days, the last day and a half at 58 degrees. Called Vinotemp and am now playing with the adjustment screw to see if I can get it to cycle. Have made four adjustments so far with no luck. If it continues to run, Vinotemp is going to send someone here to check it out. Since I live in San Diego and the cooling unit is a Breezaire (though they now say "Vinotemp" on them), it's really easy for a tech assist as Breezaires are made here. Hopefully this won't be a major problem. That's it.

alt.food.wine - Mike ... I recently purchased a Vinotemp 400 bottle unit, which I intend to keep in my garage as well. One of the options they offer is a larger coil unit which "should last longer than the stock version"; because, as you say, temperature conditions in a garage are going to be fairly erratic and the unit will therefore need to work much harder. The main reason I chose the Vinotemp was because I was actually able to view one at my local Wine Club before ordering one, and of course price.

alt.food.wine - Mike ...I have what looks to be a nearly identical cellar, but with a Sanyo badge instead of Vinotemp. I bought it second hand a couple of years ago, when it was selling for 400.00 new. As a college student without air conditioning, living in a rural Pennsylvania town with no commercial wine storage facilities, it was the perfect solution for me. Buying anything larger made no sense. It needed to be mobile in case I had to pack and move on short notice. And I couldn't justify anything else with a higher price tag. Such is college life. The WC24 likely has three position climate control (hi, med, low). In my environment, the warmest setting keeps a quite constant 45F or so. The other settings are about 35F and 40F. These seemed a bit cold to me, but considering the 80-95F summer temperatures, I figured the cellar was probably better then closet or under bed storage. The compressor has 5yr waranty and should not pose any "noise" issue. For me, it's quiet enough to sleep by. I didn't buy the cellar for long term storage.I bought it for convienence and becuase it seemed like the "right" thing to do for the wine. I couldn't keep more then a couple bottles in the refrigerator without creating a space issue with roommates. Because I was drinking several bottles a week, trips to the State Store were becoming tiresome. But mainly, it was the idea that if I ever wanted to keep "better" wines on hand that were not consistantly available in the State Store, I would have to overcome the storage issue. The cellar filled this role ideally.

alt.food.wine - Kay ... I have a Vinotemp Gold QT, it is a very good unit. I did not get the optional lighting package, which would have been nice. This is my second unit, my first was called something like an Enthusiast 450. I made the mistake in my first unit of looking only at the storage cost per bottle. The problem with that was (1) it was really noisy, it couldn't be kept in a room where people were (2) it was really ugly (3) The cooling system was a small air conditioner with an really ineffective drain system. The drain line on mine kept plugging up causing the tray in the A/C cooler to overflow and ruin a lot of wine labels. The cooler was inside the cabinet taking precious storage space. (4) The cross members on the racking were metal strips, which ripped labels if I wasn't VERY careful. This cellar served me adequately for several years - it kept the wine at the right temperature and better humidity control than the wine would have had in my linen closet. But I would have been better served if I have bitten the bullet and bought a nicer looking, quieter unit in the first place. One other note - don't believe the bottle count for the any storage unit. I think those counts assume the all of the bottles are of the standard size - no long bottles, no champagne, etc. (You can't put two long bottles in the same space in a standard cellar)

12/27/99 Rod S. of Oklahoma wrote us to say ... I wish I had submitted something in time to get into the listings. I had an abominable experience with vinotemp. I purchased the 600e with the bigger cooling unit because I would be using it in a garage in Oklahoma. About two months later, the unit failed. Vinotemp promised a replacement was in the mail each week for about 4 months. My kitchen was full of wine boxes while Vinotemp made up whatever story they wanted. They finally (after calling every week) sent the lesser cooling unit while my other unit was supposedly repaired. Look elsewhere if service is what you are looking for. Thanks for providing this forum. I wish that I had been able to review this kind of information prior to dealing with such a questionable company.

Kevin H. of Vinotheque wrote ... ( note ... we want this section to be as accurate as possible and to be completely fair, we will always include the comments of a manufacturer if they chose to write us - Art & Betsy) ... "This is a reply about the comment that is said at the bottom of the page. I work at Vinotheque, the manufacturer of the WhisperKool cooling units, and the comment a "reader" stated about shortened warranty is incorrect. Vinotheque has a standard policy of 1 year on parts and labor and 5 years on compressor. To clarify warranty issues pertaining to a stocked unit that already may have exceeded one year coverage at a distributor location, Vinotheque will honor a bill of sale document as an alternative(inex;invoice, pick list, doc with date of purchase)source to merit a warranty issue.

Eric W. wrote us saying ... After reviewing several websites and visiting several plants, I have decided to purchase a Vinotheque wine cellar. This is based on an exceptional price/value ratio and quality craftsmanship that I had witnessed during my plant tour. The new owners at Vinotheque have committed to long-term service and quality which gives me confidence that my investment in wine will be preserved. I was favorably impressed that the delivery time was only 4 weeks compared to 6 or 8 weeks that I received from other manufacturers. I also wanted to purchase from a company that has a long-term track record of quality, stylish appearance, and innovation. Eric .. note: if you have any questions, you can contact Eric at ... ericww@pacbell.net

alt.food.wine - Chuck W. ... I've had a Vinotech cabinet for fifteen years, and thought that the quality/price ratio was very good. But cooling units only last so long and repairing them is especially difficult when they use the old style freon, so when I went to investitgate purchasing a new unit, I found the attitude at Vinotech to be one of extreme indifference. I eventually bought a Breezair from Vinotemp a couple of years ago. I found the prices direct from the manufacturer to more reasonable than from the catalog outfits. Shiould be the same on the complete cellars.

alt.food.wine - Gransol ... Agree about the VinoTheque. A friend of mine had even more technical problems with the unit and met the same indifference from VinoTheque. For maximal technical reliability, I really believe you have to go with EuroCave, though the price is much higher.

alt.food.wine - Richard B. ... I bought a 460 bottle Vinotheque unit (Whisperkool, not QT) a couple years ago. Got it with extra insulation and BTU upgrade so it would stand up to the summer heat of a garage in San Jose (which it does - this week temperatures exceeded 100 degrees). The purchasing experience left a bit to be desired (Pacific Wine Cellars sat on the order for two months until I called expecting delivery) but the unit works very well. Before purchasing, I went to Nordicorp in San Carlos to see their units; I felt the superior workmanship and materials were worth the extra cost over other units I saw (e.g., Vinotemp) and cheap ones I would have to buy blind (e.g. Koolspace). Furthermore, I liked the fact that the factory was only about 20 miles away (in case I had problems). My only complaint is that there's little room for odd size bottles. I added a Radio Shack digital thermometer with a probe for outside air temp that I stuck in a bottle of water to monitor wine temperature; it stores min and max probe temperature, plus gives me inside air temperature and humidity. No need for expensive digital readout that Vinotheque sells. Oh, and I guess it's not big enough - I had 150 bottles when I started and now the darn thing's pretty much full!

alt.food.wine - Karl W ...Don't know anything else, but a friend of mine had really bad customer service and quality problems with Vinotheque. He later found out from various people in the business that Vinotheque is poor on customer service.

alt.food.wine - Richard B .. If you're going to put it inside, you should consider a Vinotheque QT - most units out there are noisy, but this one is designed to be especially quite for indoor applications (kind of like a refridgerator). I am happy with my Vinotheque WhisperKool 500 - holds 460+ bottles - but I'm glad it is in my garage, as it is a bit noisy for indoors - kind of like a window air conditioner... Also, do get one two to three times larger than your current needs - you won't have any problem filling it up... I recommend you go for the quality of a Vinotheque, - definitely not cheap, but you get what you pay for... My Vinotheque is in my garage in San Jose, CA. It can get pretty hot there - easily over 80 degrees on a hot day - but that is why I got my cellar with (a) extra insulation and (b) the BTU upgrade. It does not run non-stop. I sure hope it lasts more than a year...

alt.food.wine - Jeff P. ... "The Wine Room" 1200 bought in April of this year. For the $$ and quality "The Wine Room" simply wins. R-30 insulation, more storage space, deeper racks (2 of the botique bottles easily fit in a slot whereas in my 550 one fits in my double deep racks). The problem is you must put "The Wine Room" together yourself unless you are in a location where they assemble. It was quite a bit of work but I would definitely buy again.