When purchasing a wine fridge your first thought is probably not the internal shelving system but maybe capacity, or number of zones or kitchen design.
However, the shelves adds a large percentage of the overall cost to a wine fridge purchase and can be the deciding factor in your final purchase with many choices of material that do more (or less) for the vibration of the wine.
Display shelves, sliding shelves and even fixed shelves range from about £60 to £120 in price per shelf, so getting the shelving system right at the beginning will save later expense.
What questions should you ask yourself about your wine fridge shelves?
Should you choose wire, beech or sapele shelves?
Wine fridge shelves vary in material, offering distinct benefits and drawbacks. Wire shelves provide excellent air circulation and visibility, ensuring even cooling and easy access but do less to protect from vibration than wooden shelves.
Beech wood shelves add aesthetic appeal and stability, absorbing vibrations to protect delicate wines from disturbance. This is the most common wood type used in most wine fridges of quality.
Sapele wood shelves, known for their durability and resistance to warping, also enhance the fridge’s look with a rich, luxurious finish and offer the best protection to vibration.
Finally, the “Main du Sommelier” (Sommelier’s hand) from EuroCave bottle support, a structure in two materials which surrounds and protects your bottles from vibration, a high-tech design which ensures optimal air circulation all around the bottle and user-friendly positioning thanks to its shape, moulded in the same shape as a bottle.
Each material caters to different priorities: wire for functionality, beech for balance between form and function, and sapele for premium quality and long-term wine preservation. Choosing the right shelf material depends on personal preferences and storage needs.
Should you choose fixed, sliding or removable shelves?
Wine fridge shelves come in fixed, sliding, and display varieties, each with unique benefits and drawbacks.
Fixed shelves offer stability and maximise storage space, but they make accessing bottles in the back more challenging. They're usually reinforced for extra large loads.
Sliding shelves provide easy access to your wine and better organisation, but they reduce overall storage capacity and can be less stable if not well-designed than fixed selves.
Display shelves showcase select bottles attractively, perfect for presenting prized wines, but they typically hold fewer bottles and might not optimise space efficiently with typically a whole row of storage lost to every display shelf. Bottles at an angle are also not as well preserved as bottles on their side. They are attractive though!
Choosing the right type depends on whether ease of access, maximum storage, or visual presentation is the priority.
Should you choose a wine fridge with a shelf for every row or stack your wine?
Stacking wine in a wine fridge and using a shelf for every row each offer distinct costs and benefits.
Stacking Wine in a Wine Fridge:
Costs:
- Accessibility: Stacking makes it harder to access individual bottles, especially those at the bottom.
- Risk of Damage: Bottles stacked on top of each other can lead to accidental breakage or label damage.
- Air Circulation: Less efficient air circulation can affect the uniformity of temperature and humidity control.
Benefits:
- Maximized Storage: Stacking allows for more bottles to be stored in a limited space, ideal for those with larger collections.
- Cost-Effective: Utilizing vertical space can mean fewer shelves are needed, potentially reducing the cost of the fridge.
- Compact Design: Ideal for small spaces, as it makes the most of the available volume.
Shelf for Every Row:
Costs:
- Reduced Capacity: Shelving for every row limits the number of bottles that can be stored in the fridge.
- Higher Cost: More shelves can mean higher manufacturing costs and, consequently, a more expensive fridge.
Benefits:
- Easy Access: Each bottle is easily accessible, reducing the risk of disturbing other bottles when selecting a wine.
- Better Organization: Clear visibility of labels and organized storage make it easier to manage your collection.
- Improved Air Circulation: Enhanced air circulation around each bottle ensures more consistent temperature and humidity, preserving wine quality.
What types of display shelves are there?
Wines can be displayed label facing either by side stacking or by positioning upright at an angle. The benefit of label facing bottles on their side is that the wine is still being matured properly and the cork will not dry out. The negative is that you can only see two bottles in that row with the rest hidden behind the first bottle.
Which wine fridge brands offer display shelves?
EuroCave famously offer different shelving systems in each of their fridges, often with a choice between access, display and sliding shelves.
Swisscave also offer display shelving that can be used in all their mid height and full wine fridges including the WLB-460DF and WL455DF.
mQuvee offer display shelves, label facing shelves, wine boxes and sliding shelves within their Velvet range of tall wine fridges.
Liebherr wine fridges can also come with display shelves.
Wine walls are also superb for label facing wine maturation.
If you're unsure which shelving system works best for you or the cost of additional shelving then contact us via Live Chat or pop in to our London store.