Good advice on the Perlicks. They are one of the few, and maybe the "Only" that offers variable speed compressors on their wine fridges. Sooooo, what's the big deal about a variable speed commpressor??? Better temp control, (less temp fluctuation for your wines). More efficient. Less "Cycling" (on/off). Need proof??? Remove the accelerator pedal from your car and replace it with an on/off switch and then get in and drive that succer, (if you dare)!!!! The motor is either full on or full off, just like wine coolers or even fridges/freezers with old style compressors. They have to "Overcool", then shut the motor off, wait for contents to get "Too warm" and then come back on full blast---very "Ancient Technology" and Yep I have one, An Elux Wine Fridge, it does OK, but why not do better???? At least I did with my 48 JA built in Fridge! Good luck on your choices!! Gary

I had a conversation with a sommelier once, the son of a good friend of mine who took classes to become certified. He told me that unless you are collecting estate bottled wines of the very highest quality ($50 per bottle or more), and planning to "keep" them for a few years until they are "ready to drink," an electric wine cellar is not necessary or worth the expense. If you are still interested in getting one of these devices, you need to make sure that the one you select is designed in such a way that it prevent any vibration from reaching the wine in storage, because that would be harmful to the wine. The best system for storing wine of very high quality is to have a room, about the size of a walk-in closet or larger, and to condition in air in the room with a special device that maintains the temperature and humidity at optimal levels. Such an arrangement would eliminate the concern about vibration. The other concern is noise. Some of these devices are noisy, and you do not want them in a dining room or family room for that reason, even if they are housed in a nice cabinet suitable for a formal or semi-formal setting. Aside from the question of storing very fine wines until it is ready to drink, another reason for electrified storage is so that wine is at the optimal temperature for drinking, which means old fashioned wine cellar temperature for red wine (I think, about 65 degrees Fahrenheit), and bit colder for white table wine, and very cold for bubbly. If you live in a private home, you can probably find storage that approximates optimal temperature somewhere in your house. So, unless your husband is a purist, my advice is to get him a case or two of his favorite wine. If he's a purist, you should let him select the storage system that he wants.

My only experience is with smaller countertop wine coolers, but one I used did manage to keep about a 10°F difference between the topmost and bottommost shelves. Not divided into neat zones though; the middle shelves are simply between the two temperatures, the lower the colder. I've never found the standard temperature rules for red/pink/white wine to necessarily be the best though, with for example, shiraz tasting better when served cooler than cabernet even though they're both red, so the variable temperatures proved useful. Some wine coolers work like most refrigerators - they use a compressor. Others don't use a compressor, which have the side benefits of being silent and making more efficient use of space. Both varieties can be made to cool different compartments to different temperatures if designed carefully. You may want to crosspost this question on the GW wine forum too.

Frenchman, The whole 2 zone thing is actually a trick. Manufacturers use natural air stratification (hot air rising)to say that they have zones. Most manufacturers of under counter units only show the set temperature not the actual temperature in the cabinet. If you are really concerned with knowing the actual temperature in the cabinet I would go with a Perlick wine storage. Even though they do not have a 'dual zone' unit. They display both the set temperature and actual temperature in the cabinet. The also offer forced air refrigeration which keeps the cabinet within a 1 degree variance of your set temperature. SubZ and Perlick are the only manufacturers that offer forced air refrigeration in an under counter unit to my knowledge.