As U.S. Interest in Wine Matures, So Grows the Market For More StorageVintage Appeal

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In terms of marketing, Bergano attests to the logic of including such a specialized appliance in the company's average 250-square-foot kitchen. "The undercounter wine cooler is always shown as a feature and has been a very effective sales tool for us," she says.

Likewise, Reynoldsburg, Ohio-based builder Ray Diyanni of Diyanni Homes started offering the option of undercounter wine refrigeration in 2002 for a line of move-up homes in the $375,000 to $450,000 price range. "The bar options we've designed have been successful," he says. "We sold them in the majority of the homes we built in that community." There was one caveat, adds Diyanni: "We didn't get good feedback when we explored trying to remove standard cabinets to add a wine cooler. It had to be included in additional cabinets."

The beverage/wine fridge is an emerging hybrid said to be spot-on for this type of casual bar-based entertaining. Sub-Zero's 24-inch UC-24B beverage center holds all manner of cold beverages on the bottom and a dozen bottles of ready-to-pour wine on the top in one single-zone compartment. Danby offers two separate temperature zones—one for wine, one for other potables—in its 24-inch built-in Silhouette French door beverage center.

KitchenAid's 24-inch Architect Series II undercounter beverage center boasts three distinct temperature zones for wine and upright bottles of water, beer, soda, and juice. For tight spaces, the Perlick 15-inch Wine Reserve is packed with top-of-the-line features and teams with a similarly scaled refrigerator, beer dispenser, beverage center, and refrigerator drawers.

On the other side of the spectrum, tall, full-sized wine refrigerators are rivaling traditional wine rooms in capacity, style, and efficacy. "It's fine to have a room designated as a wine room," says Vinotemp president India Hynes. "But I feel it would be better to line each wall with refrigerated wine cabinets. Energy-wise, you don't have to cool a whole room."