Champagne Fridges

Expert Advice on Champagne Fridges

Champagne fridges come in two styles - Champagne service, whereby the Champagne fridge will keep wines at serving temperature or Champagne maturation, whereby there are usually less shelves, energy efficiency is higher and special technology like carbon filters are present made especially for ageing wine. Our offering below focuses on Champagne service as any of our wine cabinets can cellar Champagne as they need the exact same conditions to mature as fine white or red wine.

Champagne fridges are a very specific request and usually for the serious Champagne collector rather than for kitchen service and so more often feature other special features that more expensive Champagne collections would demand like a lock on the door, extra cold temperature controls, audible alarms and careful humidity and vibration management.

Can Champagne go in a wine fridge?

The first reason Champagne can not always fit into every wine fridge is simply that the shelving is too narrow for many Champagne bottles. Wine fridges are built with Bordeaux and Burgundy bottles in mind, there are many wine fridges where Champagne can not be stored due to the height between the rows being too restrictive.

Some wine fridges will allow for storage of the slimmer brands like Laurent Perrier but Dom Perignon or even Bollinger have trouble fitting on the shelves of a regular wine fridge. Some wine fridges allow a little space at the bottom of the fridge for the Champagne to be stored sideways, and some larger Champagne fridges have wide gaps between every row allowing all brands of Champagne to be stored. Look to brands like Dunavox or Swisscave for these Champagne fridges.

The other reason to buy a special Champagne fridge is that many wine fridges do not go down to a low enough temperature for Champagne service, so be sure to check the temperature max and mins of the Champagne fridge.

Champagne Fridges – Buying Guide

Do Champagne Fridges cost a lot to run?

Champagne fridges are no more expensive than regular wine fridges to run. Champagne fridges do cost more to run than standard electrical appliances as they are battling the ambient temperature to allow your Champagne to be served or stored at a set (and usually low) temperature. A Champagne fridge would use anything from 100-200 kWh per year depending on its size and how low you set the Champagne fridge too and whether it was a dual zone or not. In terms of monetary costs, that's anything between £50-£100 a year to run a Champagne cooler.

Can Champagne fridges fit in the garage?

Champagne fridges for service are generally not kept in the garage as they usually occupy pride of place with display shelves and need to be easy access for parties and events in the home or the wine bar/restaurant. However, as long as the Champagne fridge comes with a winter system you should be able to keep it in the garage if you should like.

Garages are home to some peculiar odours, so we would also recommend ensuring the Champagne fridge has a carbon filter if it is to stay in the garage.

How much does a Champagne fridge cost?

A small wine fridge that can store some Champagne would cost around £600 but can increase in price all the way to £6000+ if you buy the world's very best brands like Liebherr, Swisscave or Eurocave.

Our advice is to filter down to the core technology you want from your Champagne cabinet. If you're a collector looking for an efficient, quiet, lockable wine fridge with a carbon filter then prices would start from around £1500.

Do Champagne Fridges have two temperature zones?

A dedicated Champagne fridge would not need two temperature zones unless you wanted to both store and cellar Champagne in the same fridge. If the Champagne fridge is wholly for Champagne service then the second zone would only make the unit less energy efficient and take up space that could have been taken up by Champagne bottles. It's a rare case that a dedicated Champagne fridge should be a dual zone.

However, if you enjoy red wine and Champagne, then a dual zone wine fridge for service makes total sense.

Are Champagne Fridges Noisy?

The noisiness of a wine fridge isn't really down to what type of bottles it stores. The noisiness of a wine fridge is down to the quality of its build and parts and how often the fans and compressor are running. If your Champagne fridge is set really low in a really hot room the compressor and fans would run a lot, pushing up the energy usage and the amount of noise the wine fridge makes. The fans and compressor are active most when the wine fridge has to work against the ambient temperature to ensure the bottles are at the set temperature. You can keep your noise fridge quieter by placing in a position that doesn't fluctuate between hot and cold often. 

To combat noise, choose a premium brand, it's a general rule of thumb but wine fridges from the premium brands like Swisscave and Liebherr are known for their quiet running.

Do Champagne Fridges have display shelves?

Some Champagne fridges have display shelves. Some Champagne fridges are 100% display shelves like those from Swisscave and Dunavox. Some Champagne fridges display bottles on their side allowing for quick ease of use. This is especially useful in a busy restaurant.

Does Champagne reduce the capacity of a wine fridge?

Yes. Champagne bottles are wide at their base and will always reduce the internal capacity unless the fridge is made up of display shelves or side-facing shelves in which case the capacity will not be reduced.

How is champagne storage capacity measured?

If you do opt for a wine fridge with partial Champagne storage remember that the quoted internal capacity, that is always quoted in Bordeaux style bottles, will reduce due to thickness of the base of a Champagne bottle.

What makes a champagne fridge distinct from other wine fridges?

Many Champagne fridges come with ultra low temperature settings and especially large gaps in-between their rows so as to accommodate the wide Champagne bottle. The most prestigious and highest quality Champagne fridge is the EuroCave Champagne cabinet.

Need Expert help Choosing a Champagne Fridge?

At Coolersomm we have 15 years of wine industry experience in fine wine and wine maturation so for any questions please email info@coolersomm.com, call 020 3627 2644, speak to us via Live Chat or visit us in our London store in Wandsworth.