Commercial Wine Fridges

Both hold a temperature, but that is where it ends. A standard commercial refrigerator for cooked food or fresh produce has no humidity control, and it runs a lot colder than a wine fridge does.

The average fridge will range between 2℃ and 8℃, which is generally cooler than wine needs in order to be served at the optimal temperature. Typically, the coldest temperature is 5℃, ranging up to 22℃ to accommodate things like red wine including sparkling red which only needs to be gently chilled.

Wine fridges also protect the wine for longer. Light and heat both wreck wine, so UV glass doors keep the sun off your stock, and steady humidity keeps corked bottles in good condition.

Yes. Wine is a delicate product and light, heat, humidity swings and even vibration all damage it. A wine fridge takes those out of the picture, so bottles keep for longer and come out ready to pour.

If you pour both reds and whites, yes. They want different temperatures, and a dual zone cabinet holds both in the one unit instead of you buying two fridges.

The manual that comes with your fridge will give you the settings for specific wines. As a rough guide, these are the temperatures we would aim for.

Sparkling wines need to be the coldest, including champagne. These should be stored between 5℃ and 8℃. Next, white wines like chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, and pinot grigio and light wines like rosé need to be a little warmer, with their optimal temperature sitting between 7℃ and 12℃.

While red wine is usually served and enjoyed at roughly room temperature, chilling it slightly can enhance the flavours significantly. Equally, storing them at a consistent temperature will mean you can keep them for longer periods of time without risking sedimentation or fermentation. For light and medium-bodied red wines like grenache and pinot noir we’d recommend aiming between 13℃ and 15℃. Finally, full-bodied reds like cabernet sauvignon and merlot are best kept slightly warmer - anywhere between 15℃ and 20℃ is ideal.

Screw tops are everywhere now, but the good bottles still come with a cork. A cork dries out in dry air, shrinks and starts to crumble. Bits of it end up in the wine, and the seal goes, so the bottle spoils. Aim for around 70% humidity, which is what these cabinets hold.

Yes. One bottle of champagne is $60 and up, and vintage wine is a lot more, so a lock pays for itself. Plenty of the cabinets here come with one. Have a look at the Thermaster range.

The dual-door Williams cabinets take up to 140 bottles, and the larger Grand Cru models are worth a look too. If you are holding a mix of reds and whites, get a dual zone model while you are at it.

Yes. The low-profile cabinets can stand on their own or drop into a bar run. Filter by height, width and depth to find the under bench fridges that will fit, or contact the team at REO and we will measure it up with you.

For something smaller, the Grand Cru cabinets hold up to 40 bottles, insulate well, control humidity and display the labels nicely.

The names overlap. A commercial wine chiller, commercial wine cooler and professional wine refrigerator all hold wine at serving or cellar temperature. An industrial wine fridge, industrial wine cooler or industrial wine chiller is the larger, multi-door end of the range, built for commercial wine cooling in restaurants and bottle shops.

Chill beer and soft drinks separately in commercial bar fridges, and use glass door fridges where the stock needs to sell itself.