Why choose a tall freestanding wine fridge?
If you're looking for a freestanding wine fridge that's tall, the chances are you have a lot of bottles to store and potentially may want more than one temperature zone. The issue with small freestanding wine fridges is of course bottle capacity and the fact they're generally created on the market to go under-counter. So if you have the luxury of space, and love your wine, it makes most sense to opt for a tall freestanding wine fridge.
Not only are tall freestanding wine fridges made with a larger bottle capacity they are also more economical to buy and more economical to run than two small units, so if space just isn't an issue, it's logical to opt for a tall version.
Wine fridges tend to come in three classic sizes, undercounter (around 80-86cms in height), mid height (between 100-150cm tall) and then full height or tall at over 160cm. For the purpose of today's blog we're focusing on units that are over 160cm tall.
Around a third of the wine fridge market is dedicated to tall freestanding wine fridges, of the Coolersomm offering, that's around 70 units. These are split between freestanding, integrated, built in wine fridges and also wine cabinets which are more usually designed for the long term maturation of fine wine.
Tall Freestanding Wine Fridges
There is terrific variance in this category of wine fridge with around a third of our range dedicated to them. They run the gamut of price and quality, starting from under £1000 to over £4000. They come in a range of depths and widths, colours and features and your choice of which, from over 70 units, is correct for you will come down to your own set of personal requirements.
Some customers want to store the most number of bottles possible for the lowest price, some customers want display shelves and changing LED light colours to really visualise their collection and neither price, nor capacity, are that important, most customers requirements lay somewhere in-between.
Some of the most reliable brands of tall freestanding wine fridges are Climadiff, Swisscave, Artevino and Dunavox.
Tall Integrated Wine Fridges
A rare phenomenon, tall integrated wine fridges are one of the smaller niches in the market. These are tall wine fridges that are to be placed neatly within a kitchen design, traditionally raised off the floor with ventilation needed from behind the unit and occasionally hidden behind a door in-keeping with the kitchen's design.
There are two brands that do tall integrated wine fridges really well, Liebherr and Dunavox.
Only Dunavox offer the ability to attach your own kitchen door and obstruct the UV protected glass of the wine cooler. The Dunavox Glance 114.288.DOP.TO offers this ability plus enjoys psuh2open handleless technology, dual temperature zones and full stack shelving.
Tall Built in Wine Fridges
Many of the freestanding units also double up a built-in units if they're front venting. There are three brands that really do tall built-in wine fridges well, Swisscave and Dunavox.
These brand all come with a wealth of different features from display shelves to label facing shelves, most have lockable doors and carbon filters and all are energy efficient and quiet, destined as they most likely are for a customer's kitchen.
Our keenest priced tall built in wine fridge is the Montpellier WC165X which can hold 166 bottles and is supremely attractive in stainless steel with a full set of sliding shelves too.
Our most popular tall built in wine fridge is the Swisscave WL455DF, a dual zone with a pleasing aesthetic from premium Swiss brand; Swisscave.
Tall Wine Cabinets
Tall wine cabinets tend to be over 160cm tall and are made for the maturation of fine wine. Typical features would include a carbon filter, a winter function and a lockable door. Frequently wine cabinets are kept outside of the kitchen, potentially around the home and often in cellars, outbuildings or garages or in restaurant settings.
Tall wine cabinets also tend to be pretty deep, created as they are to store hundreds of bottles of wine, it's rare to find a tall wine cabinet under 60cms of depth (excluding integrated units), with only the Dunavox wine fridge range and Vestfrost wine fridge brand offering anything with this height and depth.
Tall wine cabinets can store as many as 320 bottles, but our recommendation for the most cost efficient tall wine cabinet goes to the Climadiff Reserve 300XL which can hold 294 bottles and costs £1799. that's £6.12 per bottle. The reserve range were launched in 2022 and enjoy the latest technology from Climadiff plus a charcoal filter, lockable door and winter system.
Like every considered purchase, the right tall freestanding wine fridge will be a very personal choice predicated on the factors that are most important to you as a wine drinker. We recommend calling us or using the live chat facility to talk through your needs so we can make a tailored, personal recommendation on the best tall wine fridge for you.