Vintage Keeper 200 is a Keeper
Written: Jul 08 '03
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Pros: Value, consistent temp
Cons: Cleaning cooling fins
The Bottom Line: Worth buying: Easy to set up, maintains a consistent temperature, great price/bottle storage ratio.
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| jphrycak's Full Review: Vintage Keeper 200 |
The Vintage Keeper 200 came in several large very well packed boxes with very simple instructions. No guessing to do and no possibility for catastrophic or non-reversible mistakes. Instructions recommend 2 people but I managed to do it myself. It just takes patience and took about 90 minutes over two sessions. I am not that mechanically inclined and did not have any head-scratching moments trying to figure out what to do next. The only time consuming aspect is letting the caulking dry once the unit is almost entirely assembled and that is why it was assembled in 2 sessions.
The unit has 13 shelves that are 2 bottles deep and one bottle high. However, the bottom shelf stacks 3 high and the top stacks 2 high. However, if you store taller than normal bottles you can't store them end to end because there isn't enough clearance to the door. Instead you can nest the bottles front to back but that eats up a bottle space on the shelf. Conveniently, you can mount the door to open either left or right handed.
I have now had this unit almost a year. The ambient temperature of the room the unit is has varied between 67 and 76F. Given that, the unit has reliably maintained temperature at whatever I have set it at. As a validity check I set up a separate digital temperature/humidity sensor on the top shelf and the temp holds at 59F and at about 60% humidity. To test bottle/fluid temperature I placed a large mug of water with a thermometer immersed in it in the cellar and that fluid temperature has held very steadily at 57F. I am not sure as to why the difference between the ambient air temp and bottle temp; maybe a thermometer error but the difference is of no consequence.
I store bottles for longer aging at the back of shelves and bottom ones and lesser aging at the front and top shelves. I use a simple numbering system and catalog to keep track of what is where in the cellar.
Two negatives, but certainly not show stoppers: I find the cooling fan to be a little noisy even though I have it set on the quiet mode. I can hear the fan running behind a closed door in a small room the cellar is located. The instructions specify that the fins of the cooling unit should be vacuumed every 3 months to maintain efficiency. However, these are located at the back of the unit behind a panel fastened by screws. The unit as per instructions also sits at least 3 inches off the back wall. It is virtually impossible to get the panel off without moving the unit forward to get at the fins....especially with 200 bottles in the unit. The filled unit would weigh well over 300 pounds. I haven't figured that one out yet short of half emptying it. SO if you do install this unit try to find a place you will have access to the top rear of the unit.
By simply dividing the number of bottles storage into the price of the cellar,I have seen many other similar units but of much smaller size and I have found that this unit gives you one of the best price per bottle ratios for storage.
Overall I am very pleased with the Vintage Keeper 200 and can rest assured that my wine is very well stored and very easily accessed.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 1100
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Epinions.com ID:
jphrycak
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Reviews written: 1
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