by Frank Drew » Wed Nov 21, 2007 10:33 am
Steve,
For starters, I'd suggest you seriously consider doubling the size of the cabinet you're looking at; a 200 bottle unit isn't really much bigger (in terms of footprint) and is really not so much more expensive. Everyone -- ALWAYS -- ends up with more wine than they'd thought they'd ever have when they started collecting; it's a rule carved in stone, you just have to accept it.
I've had a 200 btl. Vintage Keeper for more than a decade; it's in a room that I don't heat in the winter so for almost six months in the year I don't have to run the compressor. With that in mind, my compressor has never needed service and continues to cool very effectively.
The cabinet, however, is made of really sub-par components, and the floor panel sagged badly (1"+) in its first year in service. The panels are contact paper covered fiber board and any humidity causes the interior material to soak up moisture, warp, and lose it's structural integrity. So you must keep these units in air-conditioned spaces to avoid summer's humidity; in my case, just an open window in summertime let in enough damp Virginia air to cause problems. I've since added a window a.c. to the room, keeping it both cooler and drier, both of which help the unit.
In general, I think it's safe to say that for what you get almost all of these wine cabinets are overpriced. But if you've got good wine that you want to mature, you've got to care for it, otherwise you've wasted your money. Storage is the hidden tax on our little hobby here.
