Wines taste best served at the right temperature. From 7C for non vintage sparkling to 18C for vintage port. Different types of wines need to be served at different temperatures. Wine coolers serve the purpose of chilling your wine to the right temperature.

A wine cooler is any type of utensil or equipment used to cool the wine. These may be small table top units that rapidly cool a single bottle or hand held totes used to carry chilled wine. Wine coolers may also be as elaborate as large refrigerator style units that store dozens of bottles at selected temperatures. Wine coolers are usually made of neoprene, vinyl or double-walled glass, plastic, metal or any insulated material that assists to keep the wine chilled.

Table top units are useful for obtaining the correct wine serving temperature especially in warmer climates. Hand held totes are used for carrying and keeping bottles cold for picnics or parties but these keep wine chilled for a limited amount of time ranging from 1 to 3 hours. These hold single bottles or as many as three bottles of wine.

The large refrigerated units come in different types, sizes, styles and functions. These types of wine coolers are useful for those who do not have access to a wine cellar, as temperature and humidity conditions can be replicated. These can maintain temperatures at a designated level and also at precise levels so wines are continually kept chilled to the desired degree. With developments in technology, wine coolers have also come of age. Modern day wine coolers do not only control temperature, cooling and circulation but are also able to read bar coding of wine bottles enabling precise controls of elements related to the coding. Some wine coolers also have separate chambers with separate temperature controls so that different types of wines can be stored in the same wine cooler.

While choosing a wine cooler, features like volume, number of shelves, capacity, dimensions and energy efficiency are to be kept in mind. Coolers with extra features like light, glass doors and the opening of the door to both left and right are added advantages. Digital or electronic controls gain over dial controls, as temperatures can be set precisely.

Various brands are available with different functionalities with prices ranging from $350 to over $2000. Table top coolers are useful for domestic purposes while the large refrigerated units are ideally suited to bars, restaurants or uses where high turnover of products is expected.