We have the GE Monogram Beverage Center. Love it! Cools well; good configuration of shelves. (We just removed one of the shelves, so now have a "tall" one for jars of pickles, horseradish, etc.) Racks on the bottom accommodate cans of Coke, as well as bottles of beer, sparkling cider, wine, etc.

The GE Monogram Beverage Center is an undercounter unit, 24" wide, with a glass front. It looks great, and we would have bought it, until we decided to go with a real refrigerator that can safely chill food items. "Beverage centers" do not get cold enough for safe food storage. For layout and storage reasons, we ultimately picked a full size all refrigerator with a glass front for our beverages and party foods.

We decided, based on reports here, to go with a Magic Chef from HD. It's $1000 less than the Monogram (which we were looking at). I figure it's worth a try. I hate the look of the wooden shelves and much prefer the look of the stainless racks. I know, that's weird. What can I say?

^$1000 less? Well, I guess I could suggest a Perlick at $1000 more than a Monogram. So let's just say that $1600 will get you a very good cooler in either the Monogram or Marvel brands.

Full disclosure: We bought the GE Monogram as a display; paid roughly $700 for it (maybe $750?).

I do find that it keeps things very cold. I have stored smoked salmon, cooked shrimp, leftover pizza, etc. with no problems. N.B.: The Monogram holds a medium-sized pizza box beautifully! Of course, other 'fridges out there will do likewise.

Good luck with your choice!

-- Nean

The GE Monogram only goes down to 40 F. The maximum limit for safe food storage is 40 F, so I wouldn't risk it. For food safety, you're going to want a fridge that goes down to 37 F.

Our KA beverage fridge goes down that cold in the "beverage" section, but its wine section has 3 wine racks so it has less "beverage" storage area. Perfect setup for us, but may not be the best choice for mollie. If wine storage isn't a must have, an actual undercounter fridge vs a beverage center might be a better choice.

Is Jennaire owned by Kitchenaid (or vice-versa). Both brands have a beverage center and they look identical.

I really don't see why the emphasis on food storage- the OP did not mention this! Again, Marvel offers a nice product for the money- nicer than Monogram and I own both.

If I did go with a undercounter fridge instead of a beverage center, which would you get? I still like the glass door, is there an undercounter beverage center that goes below 40 degrees in case we did want to put party foods in it?

Problem with most beverage fridges, is they are not cold enough for beer, soda. They go down to 42 degrees, monogram 40 degrees, if you do the perlick you can adjust down to 37 degree, but then you are to cold for red wine (lowest temp for red should be 54)

I'm not going to chill red wine, mostly sodas, beer, water, and some white wine. We do like our sodas, beer, water really cold but definitely not frozen. I don't want to spend $1200 or so for the KitchenAid or Monogram and not have cold beverages. I do want the glass door and built-in. I will store "food" items in my regular fridge. I need to decide soon.

Buy an undercounter refrigerator for much less dollars and a better temp range for keeping beer, soda, white wine cold, do not buy a beverage center which is a staging area for cooling or warming

If you'll note my Jan 15 post above, you'll see that my KA bev fridge goes down to 37 degrees. We keep beer etc in there and it is plenty cold.

Sub-Zero has a beverage center (UC-24B) that goes down to 34°. It's got a couple of wine racks, adjustable glass shelves, and electronic controls. Looks much cleaner than most but I don't know what it costs.

mollie--per your question up a ways.....Perlick sells a glass door undercounter refrigerator that is a true refrigerator--not just a beverage center. They cost a lot though--over $2500 I think.

Here's a thought. You can buy a decent undercounter refrigerator (consider GE GMR06 for under $400, and a separate wine storage unit from Danby or Haier for not too much. Unless you're storing wine for any real length of time, these will hold your wine fine for a week or two prior to serving.

If you're storing wine for any length of time, and want one unit, I'd suggest the Marvel for comparative value. The Monogram doesn't go quite cold enough, and the Sub Z's a lot more expensive.

I am looking at buying the Marvel 15 inch beverage/wine cellar which has dual zone temp control with range from 40-65F. The 3BARM "Luxury" model can store 4 bottles of wine and 60 12oz cans. It has 4 shelfs, some that are adjustable to accommodate taller items.

I am limited to the 15 inch wide model because I am pulling out my old trash compactor which was never used and that's the only space I have. I am less concerned about actual wine storage and prefer having more storage for sodas and water.

Marvel also has the 3SBARE 15 inch "Chateau" model which is more expensive and it can only hold 4 wine bottles and 36 cans. I think it has a larger compressor and that takes up more of the storage space. The Chateau has a few nicer esthetic features (glass shelves, glide out vs pullout etc.) but I think the electronics and basic configuration is the same between the two models.

I can get the 3BARM for $1400 or the 3SBARE for $1650... I am thinking of going with the less expensive model to get the additional storage capacity.

Here is a link that might be useful: Marvel Beverage/Wine Cellar

There's a reason beverage coolers only go down to 42 degrees. Colder than that diminishes the flavor. If your beer is colder than that, you can't taste it.

We purchased and just installed the Monogram fresh food fridge (model ZIFI240PII) linked below.

Goes down to 34 degrees and works well for sodas, kids juice boxes, some fruit, yogurt, etc. We removed one shelf to allow for storage of taller items. It can easily be put back in for storage of more beverage items for parties,etc.

Its available paneled or in stainless.

Here is a link that might be useful: Monogram UC Fridge