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Wine and cheese are a classic go-to if you’re having a get-together. It’s easy, versatile, and classy all at once. However, when you have a lot of cheese and wine, you might be in the market for a place where you can store your cheeses to age them and keep them from going bad.
What is the best wine cooler for a cheese cave? Any wine cooler will work as a cheese cave, as long as you take the proper steps to turn it into the right environment for cheese. Dual-zone wine coolers are best if you’re going to have cheeses that need to be stored at slightly different levels of humidity, though.
In this article, you’ll learn our top picks for wine coolers to use as cheese caves, why you probably shouldn’t store wine and cheese together, and a brief overview of the steps you’ll need to take to turn your wine cooler into a cheese cave before you can begin storing cheese in it.
TIP: If you want to check out the best refrigerator for wine storage, I recommend trying out the Avation (18 bottles) compressor refrigerator with Wi-fi smart app control cooling system. You can find this refrigerator by clicking here (Amazon link).
The Best Wine Cooler for Cheese Caves
After reviewing the market for wine coolers, we found that these are the options that came out on top. With the right setup, turning these wine coolers into cheese caves will take you very little time to set up and maintain.
TIP: Most wines go bad once you pop the cork within a day or so. But a Coravin Wine Preservation system (available for a great price on Amazon) can extend the life of your opened wine for weeks or even months. It is awesome. You should check it out to see if it fits your lifestyle.
Nutrichef PKCWC150 15 Bottle Compressor
The Nutrichef wine cooler can fit up to 15 bottles of wine, as it says, which means it can fit a whole lot of cheese. It has everything the beginnings of a cheese cave need: adjustable temperature, good circulation, and a solid ventilation system. It also comes with child safety features, so your kids won’t be able to access and ruin that cheese you’ve been aging for weeks.
Unfortunately, there is no humidity control with this product, which means you’ll need to add that aspect yourself later. However, the fact that it is so compact, safe, and otherwise perfect for use as a cheese cave makes up for a little extra work.
Check out this great wine refrigerator to see how much you can save at Amazon.
TIP: What are the differences between a wine cooler and a wine refrigerator? This article explains all you need to know. Moving a wine refrigerator is not easy and could damage your treasured wine collections. Find out the correct way to move your refrigerator here.
Beware 12 Bottle Wine Cooler
Beware makes a wine cooler that holds slightly less than some of its competitors, but it still holds its own. The product is smaller, so it’ll be easier to fit on countertops or take up less space on the floor. It does something a lot of other wine coolers forget about: blocks out UV rays so they can’t penetrate in and harm your cheeses.
The temperature of this wine cooler is customizable from 54 to 66 degrees Fahrenheit. Depending on the type of cheese you want to store, this might be the perfect range, but you should double-check just to be sure. There is no humidity feature on this product, but it is said to be very quiet when running.
Check out this great wine refrigerator to see how much you can save at Amazon.
TIP: A suitable wine glass is the basis for enjoying well-being while drinking your favorite wine variety. Here are our favorite ones (Amazon link):
- Bormioli Rocco Crystal Wine Glasses: A set of eight elegant and traditional wine glasses made in Italy for a reasonable price.
- Riedel VINUM Wine Glasses: Luxury set of two wine glasses suitable for any occasion. We just love them!
- Schott Zwiesel Tritan Crystal Glasses: If you like unusual alternatives, a set of six stemless glasses made of crystal glass.
Ivation 18 Bottle Thermoelectric Wine Cooler
The Ivation 18 Bottle Wine Cooler has absolutely everything you need to turn it into a cheese cave with no extra steps. The refrigerator is available with wooden shelves, which are something you’ll need since you can’t store cheese on the wine racks.
It has smoked glass, which will protect against UV rays, and it has customizable temperature and humidity controls. Usually, you’d need to hang damp rags or something in your wine cooler to get the humidity up if you wanted to use it as a cheese cave.
With this, you can simply put the cheese in and go almost as soon as you get it. Just make sure to leave it plugged in and running for a few minutes to make sure it cycles properly.
Check out this great wine refrigerator to see how much you can save at Amazon.
TIP: To get a complete sense of why you should not store a wine refrigerator next to a kitchen oven, check out this article. To learn if a wine fridge is necessary for good long-term wine storage, check out this article.
h0melabs 18 Bottle Wine Cooler
This is a single-zone wine cooler that is good as a base for a cheese cave. The wire racks that the wine is stored on the slide right out, so you can slide in some wooden shelves. The product also offers customizable temperatures and digital readers so you can easily see the temperature inside. It’s also compact, so it will be perfect for the kitchen counter.
The product doesn’t have smoked glass, though, which means you’ll need to add something to block out the sun before you store cheese in it. It also doesn’t have any kind of controls for the humidity, so that’s another extra step you’ll need to take.
Check out this great wine refrigerator to see how much you can save at Amazon.
Recommendation box: Everything you need to enjoy your wine as much as possible. All recommended products are personally tested and regularly used by experts from this website (Amazon links):
> Ivation Wine Cooler – Energy-efficient wine cooler for 18 bottles with Wi-fi smart app control cooling system.
> Wine Rack – Beautiful, elegant wood rack for up to 7 bottles and the choice of vertical or horizontal storage.
> Durand Wine Opener – Classic vintage wine opener (we like all these classic staff).
> YouYah Iceberg Wine Decanter – The most beautiful and handy wine decanter we personally use.
> Bormioli Rocco Wine Glasses – A set of eight elegant and traditional wine glasses made in Italy.
> Vintorio Wine Aerator – Simple but really useful wine aerator for a reasonable price.
> The Original Vacu Vin Wine Saver – The best wine saver on the market in a package with two vacuum stoppers and two wine servers.
And if you want to become a true connoisseur of wine, we recommend reading the book Wine Folly: The Essential Guide to Wine (Amazon link), where you will find all the information you need about winemaking, wine varieties, flavors, and much more.
NutriChef PKTEWCDS1802 Dual Zone Wine Cooler
Rounding out the list is a dual-zone wine cooler that comes in 18 and 24 bottle sizes. The dual zones mean that you could store a few different types of cheeses in it at different temperatures.
The upper zone is wider in range, going from 46-64 degrees Fahrenheit, while the lower zone ranges from the standard 54-64 degrees. You fully control the temperature for both zones, and digital readers for each zone will display accurate temperatures.
The downsides to this aren’t anything unusual; you will need to control the humidity on your own with an external thermometer, there is no smoked glass front, and there is no option to buy with wire racks. All of these are relatively easy fixes, so if you’re looking for a dual-zone option, don’t count this one out.
Check out this great wine refrigerator to see how much you can save at Amazon.
TIP: For a complete list of the best locations to place a wine refrigerator, check out this article. To get a good estimate of the running costs associated with a wine fridge and how to reduce those costs, check out this article.
Why You Shouldn’t Store Wine and Cheese Together
Unfortunately, as well as they pair outside of the fridge, they don’t go well together inside. This is mostly due to the humidity aspect; wine and cheese often need to be kept at different humidity levels, and sacrificing the needs of one or the other just to store them together could ruin them both.
Your best bet is to keep them separate, even if it might get pricey to do so. Keeping wine in improper conditions is a lot worse and can end up being even more expensive in the long run. Wine and cheese are an investment on their own, so you must be also ready to invest in their care.
How to Turn A Wine Cooler Into A Cheese Cave
Sticking cheese directly in your wine cooler is not the move. You will need to take a few steps with most wine coolers to get them ready for your cheeses.
First, you need to replace the wire wine racks with shelves that are either plastic or wood, though most people go with wood as it holds humidity better. Some wine coolers will come with wooden shelves already installed.
Next up is to find yourself an external thermometer. This will help you to check the humidity since the digital readers pre-installed in most wine coolers do not read for humidity as well. If you have a dual-zone cooler, get two.
From there, you can either get a humidifier for the wine cooler or you can just use damp rags placed around the fridge. If you go with the latter, beware of the risk of mildew and change the rags out often.
Lastly, you need a way to keep the sun from getting to the cheese. Since this is a concern for wine too, a lot of wine coolers come with smoked glass to eliminate the UV rays. If not, there are rolls of film you can buy from most hardware retailers that will give you the smoked effect and protection.
TIP: Read this guide to discover a few wine storage myths. Are wine refrigerators really a good idea for beer and food? Find out here!
Being Cheesy Isn’t Easy
Once you get set up, it’s not just a set it and forget it type of deal. To ensure that your cheese is safe and aging properly, you need to be checking the temperature and humidity often, and you need to be prepared to make adjustments as soon as you notice something wrong.
Aging cheese also takes time. If you aren’t prepared to wait for your cheese to be fully ready, don’t be surprised when you feel like your cheese is lacking in those aged flavors you were hoping for.
Keeping cheese is a fine art, and if you’re not careful, the cheese you keep could quickly turn into an elementary school finger painting instead.
TIP: Check out this page for a complete list of wine products and accessories I love. You’ll find my recommendations for wine refrigerators, decanters, and aerators and the best place to buy wine online. Click here to see the complete listing.