White wine is best serve chilled. In most homes the chilling is done in the fridge we use for storing our milk, cheese and chocolate. This works fine for most people but what if you are really into your wine and usually have more than a few bottles in stock? Or what if you travel a lot and never know if the hotel you will be staying at has a fridge in the room?
Below are a few options for cooling wine:
Wine Sleeves
Wine sleeves are stored in a freezer so they can be used any time you want to quickly cool a bottle of wine. Just take the sleeve out of the freezer, wrap it around your bottle and wait a little while. A typical wine cooling sleeve is big enough to wrap tightly around your average wine bottle and provides an excellent and affordable solution for cooling wine.
Wine Coolers
A wine cooler usually has a solid base unit and is not quite as flexible as a wine sleeve. The Vacu Vin wine cooler takes the wine sleeve principle and incorporates it into the cooler; you store the sleeve in the freezer and stuff it into the base unit when you want to use it. You then add your wine bottle and let the cooler do its job.
On the other hand, this Hostess wine cooler is powered by electricity. Plug it in, put the wine bottle into the base unit and wait for a couple of hours.
Wine Fridges
If you are really into your wine then you might consider buying a wine fridge. They are available in a range of different sizes with prices starting around the £100 mark for the smallest and most basic. The typical wine fridge is about the same size (or slightly smaller) than your average domestic fridge. Slim versions are also available, these fit nicely between cupboards in a fitted kitchen and store wine vertically; ideal for homes with limited space.
Wine fridges are not just used at home. Many small bars and eateries use a wine fridge to chill their wine, and contemporary designs are really sleek and stylish.
Wine Cellar
Most people don’t have the space for a wine cellar, but if you do they are an ideal place to store and cool wine. Wine cellars are usually known as passive or active. A passive wine cellar is not climate-controlled and is usually built underground to avoid temperature changes. An active wine cellar on the other hand is climate-controlled which keeps factors such as temperature and humidity at a consistent level.
A wine cellar built above ground is sometimes known as a wine room and a wine cellar with less than 500 bottles is sometimes known as a wine closet.
Which to Choose?
Budget, space and your level of interest determine which of these wine cooling methods is best for you.
