Category: Wine storage

HOW TO · Tips · Wine storage

Storage tips for National Wine Day

Warners' Stellian Appliance1 Comment

grapes 476 x 249

Happy #NationalWineDay! We want to assist whether you’re planning a party or getting a gift for yourself to celebrate.

Pop quiz: What are the best temperatures for storing wine?

It’s OK to admit it. Not a lot of people have the temperatures memorized for their Gewürztraminer versus their Chianti, so we’re going to tell you our recommendations.

Standard Wines:

  • Assorted Wine: 54°F (12°C)
  • Red Wine: 64°F (17°C)
  • Sweet Wine: 42°F (5°C)
  • White and Rosé Wine: 50°F (10°C)

Other Wines:

  • Champagne: 46° (7°C)
  • Sake: Below 68°F (20°C)
  • Port: 60°F (15.5°C)
  • Light Mead: 49°F (9.5°C)
  • Dark Mead: 64°F (75.5°C)

For optimal serving temperature, do not let wine get above 68° for reds and 55° for whites. Temperatures dramatically affect taste and smell, and you need that spicy, cherry-like aroma to breathe when pouring a Grenache through your decanter.

Also, don’t use the freezer anymore! You can keep your bubbly ready for any occasion without risking explosion from freezing, and you can stop ruining the crisp taste of your homemade honey mead.

Vibration, light, and humidity are additional factors that affect quality. Fortunately, there are wine and beverage storage appliances that are technologically designed to both protect and keep consistent storage temperatures.

Are you a collector? Chef? Host? At-home winemaker? Occasional wine drinker that buys bulk for economic advantage? Maybe you need a special place with the right consistent temperature to age a 1974 Château Latour.

Wine and beverage storage appliances  make perfect gifts for any style. When wine leaves an appropriately pre-set cooler, it is already within optimal serving temperatures. These appliances also make excellent assets for entertaining, and they provide amazing aesthetic value to your home.

Here are a few examples that might work for you.

This Jenn-Air Under-Counter Beverage Center features independent temperature zones, 6 temperature presets and automatic interior LED lighting. It can fit up to 14 average sized wine bottles.

jennair cellar

 

One of our most popular beverage storage units is the Frigidaire Gallery 52-Bottle Wine Cooler with a convertible shelf, LED digital control and decorative wood trim for a sophisticated look.

frig wine

 

For serious prize collectors, the True Residential 30″ Wine Column preserves, protects, and flaunts up to 150 of your favorite bottles. It also features dual-zone True Precision® Control, extendable smooth-glide racks and LED lighting.

wine column

 

We assume you love wine because you’re reading this, but these coolers are good for any home. Add a modern look to your bar or kitchen, keep bottles on hand for guests or use them for something else entirely. Are you a beer drinker?

Still, we’re pretty sure you love wine.

 

 

 

Freezer · HOW TO · Refrigerator · Wine storage

HOW TO: buy a refrigerator

Warners' Stellian Appliance

Buying a refrigerator can be a difficult decision, considering all the sizes, styles and prices available. But most importantly (after making sure it fits), the refrigerator you choose should reflect the way your family uses your kitchen and accesses fresh or frozen food.

stainless-steel-refrigerator

Top-freezer refrigerators position the freezer at eye level while the refrigerator compartment offers wide shelves, making it easy to store large trays of food and allow access to items in the back of the refrigerator.

side by side black refrigerator

Side-by-side refrigerators feature the freezer on the left and the refrigerator on the right. Side-by-sides require less door swing clearance, perfect for kitchen layouts with narrow walkways or an island.

stainless-bottom-freezer-refrigerator

Bottom freezer refrigerators are today’s most popular refrigerator style. The refrigerator is opened nine to 10 times more often than the freezer, so it’s convenient to locate the refrigerator at waist or chest level.

four door french door refrigerator

French door refrigerators, the industry’s fastest growing style, is like a bottom-freezer but with French doors (side-by-side) opening from the center. The symmetrical styling allows easier installation with less door clearance to impede a walkway or island. Wide refrigerator shelves easily store large party trays.

samsung french door refrigeratorSome models, like the one pictured above, come with a fourth drawer. Depending on the model, the fourth drawer is a second refrigerator compartment or a second freezer compartment. However, as is the case with the Samsung refrigerator pictured to the right, sometimes the fourth drawer offers more temperature options (think chilling wine versus storing meats) than you’d probably select with your main fresh food compartment.

‘Cool’ features to consider

• A Dual-Compressor System cools the refrigerator and freezer separately. This preserves food substantially longer, better retaining the food’s natural internal moisture.

• Chilling Drawers brings air directly from the freezer into a sealed refrigerator compartment to, for instance, cool a warm beverage to ice cold in 15 minutes!

• Hidden Hinge extends door heights to cover hinges and create a more built-in look.

• Gallon Storage Door Bins hold large milk and juice jugs in the door to free up precious shelf space.

• Cabinet-depth models provide a sleek and seamless appearance. The shallow 24” depth aligns with surrounding cabinetry, again, offering a more “built-in” look.

Tip: A common mistake when buying a new refrigerator is not properly measuring the maximum height, depth and width of the space it will fit into. There is no “standard” in refrigerator. However, if your opening is 36” wide and 70” high, you will have a wide selection of models to choose from. As a rule of thumb, you should allow 1” of clearance on each side of the refrigerator for breathing room.

Food · Freezer · Refrigerator · Wine storage

Refrigerator, wine refrigerator, freezer and pantry – all in one

Warners' Stellian Appliance

I recently trendspotted cooking appliances that multitask over separate appliances for separate functions.

But what about refrigeration?

Some of you have a second refrigerator, maybe for beverages or the extra freezer space, but until the holiday season, you don’t really use most of the space. It’s probably 15 cubic feet, in total.

Then people might have wine refrigerators for storing and chilling their wine.

If you’re really lucky, you have an area for cold pantry storage. (If you’re me, you have your poorly heated laundry room to keep the potatoes and winter squash.)

But if you don’t really make use of all the space those different appliances take up, you can see the genius in the Fisher & Paykel CoolDrawer.

Fisher & Paykel, the New Zealand brand best known for its DishDrawers, created a multitemperature fridge drawer. It packs 3 cubic feet into a 33-inch wide drawer and adjusts the temperature setting based on what you need it to be at that moment. Amazing, right?

This is how my daydream plays out:

Pantry (53.5°F)
Chill (31°F)

It can be a cold pantry for fresh herbs and produce leading up to the holidays.

Then days before you can turn it into a refrigerator to defrost your roast without taking up a shelf in your fridge for a few days.

The day of, convert it to wine mode it to chill wine and spirits. You can also keep soda and juice in easy reach for kids.

Afterwards, use the extra space to freeze (or deep freeze) or refrigerate leftovers. All at the touch of a button.

Wine (53.5°F for long-term storage, 44.5°F for white wine serving and 59°F for red wine)
Freezer (0°F) (Deep Freezer -13 °F)
Appliance Design · Food · Freezer · Product Roundup · Refrigerator · Wine storage

Fisher & Paykel CoolDrawer refrigerator drawers

Warners' Stellian Appliance

Don’t get me wrong. I love my full-size, bottom-freezer refrigerator. But occasionally, my freezer runs out of space while my fresh food compartment maintains plenty and my eyes wander to the grass on the other side…

Recently I’ve been thinking, why can’t my fridge be more adaptable?

I had a very educational conversation with the produce manager of a local grocery last weekend about fresh basil preservation. I didn’t know you weren’t supposed to refrigerate it! (Also, those of us in cold temperatures should take special care when transporting fresh basil home, as our subzero air can turn the delicious leaves black.) It should be kept in a cool (50-some degrees) spot.

That’s why I love these multitemperature refrigerated drawers.

Now you see it.
Now you don't.

The Fisher & Paykel CoolDrawer (RB36S25MKIW1) lets you choose freezer, chill, fridge, pantry or wine at the touch of a button so that everything from fresh food to frozen meat to fine wine can be stored at the correct temperature.
So, if you buy a lot of produce one week you have extra fridge space.

Refrigerator (37°F)

Or if a family member comes home with a record catch of fish and the freezer’s full, voila.

Freezer (0°F) (Deep Freezer -13 °F)

If you want to keep it a little colder than the stuff you keep in your fridge, you can do that too.

Chill (31°F)

And if you plunk down more than you’d like for fresh basil and don’t want to see any of it go to waste (or pesto), you’ll love the pantry function.

Pantry (53.5°F)

Having a party? Store your wine and then chill it to precise serving temperature.

Wine (53.5°F for long-term storage, 44.5°F for white wine serving and 59°F for red wine)

And at 36″ wide, the Fisher & Paykel CoolDrawers keep everything in easy, ergonomic reach while being deep enough to fit wine bottles and 2-liter bottles, as shown above.

The spill-proof storage bins can come out or be moved around to do just about anything you need it to.

I'm imagining a Thanksgiving turkey, thawing at the recommended 40 degrees, not crowding my refrigerator for four days.

If you want to see it, we display it at our St. Paul store, our Apple Valley store, our Woodbury store and our Edina store.

And, for being so curious, you will be rewarded with free assorted ice cream treats when you open the drawer.

How sweet is that?

Appliance Design · Best · grilling · Innovative Features · Product Roundup · vacuums · Wine storage

Christmas-Holiday gift ideas

Warners' Stellian Appliance

Because most people don’t shop till now anyway, I’m not even going to call this last-minute. But here’s a roundup of unique gift ideas for the people in your life worth gifting to!

For the wine lover, a 16-bottle countertop wine cooler:

For your wino friends (or wannabe winos), this compact wine cooler ($150) stores and displays 16 bottles behind a sleek, mirrored finish door. Adjust temperatures for various wines with the soft touch controls with digital display.

For the tailgater, a mini LP grill:

How awesome would this Weber Q gas grill ($150) be for all those early morning grill outs and picnics? It’s also a very discreet option for those whose apartments or condos don’t allow grills (speaking from experience). This mini grill crams 889 sq. inches of cooking space into a 27″x16″ footprint of only 60 pounds. And you can purchase the optional Weber Q Grill rolling cart for $45.

For the new homeowner or pet owner, a HEPA vacuum cleaner:

For friends and family who’ve recently gained a furry friend, the Dyson Animal DC25 ($550) is probably the ultimate gift. This root cyclone vacuum is designed for homes with pets and is certified asthma and allergy friendly with a washable lifetime HEPA filter.

Miele vacuums, rated to last 20 years, are a great gift for someone just starting out in her home. Plus, they come in cute colors, like this Miele Polaris vacuum in light blue ($399). I’ve blogged about them before, because I love how quiet they are, how well they clean, and how long they last.

Plus, all of our vacuums ship for free nationwide. If you hurry, you could still get it by Christmas!

For the grilling enthusiast, the ultimate smoker:

There aren’t many grills that produce the a fanatic with their own name, like the Big Green Egg does. “Eggheads” rave that this ceramic smoker is the ultimate for meats, fish, vegetables and any other creation grillers cook up.

The Large Big Green Egg (shown, $750) — which is the most popular size — can cook:

  • 20-pound turkey
  • 12 burgers
  • 6 chickens vertically
  • 8 steaks
  • 7 racks of ribs vertically

For the cigar aficionado, a sophisticated stainless steel humidor:



The Liebherr humidor XS-200 is definitely one of those big, spendy holiday gifts, at $2,599. But it’s completely distinctive, with European-style stainless steel and glass displaying cigars housed with premium preservation elements (humidity, temperature and hygienic conditions).

>>See Liebherr cigar humidor blows no smoke