VT 200 assembly and first use notes
Written: Sep 06 '05
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Ease of Use: |
 |
|
| Durability: |
 |
|
| Ease of Cleaning: |
|
|
| Style: |
|
|
|
Pros: Price, capacity, ease of move into condo, fun factor, extras.
Cons: Finish blemish (minor), maybe a miscalibrated sensor
The Bottom Line: Recommended if you're a DIY'er and / or on a budget.
Not recommended if you're not a DIY'er.
|
|
|
| lewellen's Full Review: Vintage Keeper 200 |
I decided to purchase my first wine refrigerator (or cellar) because I'm moving into a condo, with no cool basement, and didn't want to rack my collection in the coat closet. :-)
For my collection and tastes (~100 bottles, storage needed for years rather than decades) a relatively small cellar would do; I wanted around 200 bottles' capacity for some expansion room etc.
My choices came down to the Vinotemp 180 (available from Home Depot) for around $1500, or the Vintage Keeper VT200 for $1200, both delivered.
I went with Vintage Keeper because I thought assembling the kit would be interesting, and the 200-bottle capacity as opposed to the 100-bottle because it was only $200 more, and so was a great incremental price. At that point you can argue that spending $300 more for a preassembled unit is also worth it, and I wouldn't contest the point. However, as someone who likes putting stuff together, I thought this would be fun (and it was). Also, I'd seen some not-so-great reviews on the Vinotemp. Besides, $300 is another 2 - 3 bottles of Chalk Hill and Quintessa to add to the collection. :-)
Two nice things about the VT200: it came in 5 boxes, each not too bad to manage, so getting the unit into my condo, disassembled, wasn't too bad. The other nice thing is that this unit doesn't require any sealants, so you can take it apart if you really have to.
Delivery from UPS was pretty standard: some cuts and a few dents in the boxes, but nothing too bad. As it turns out nothing inside was damaged.
Assembly was straightforward, but, as usual, it really paid to read through the manual once or twice before starting assembly. It took me almost exactly two hours from the time I opened the first box to the time I plugged it in. Assembly difficulty is, I'd say, about on a par with a nice bookcase from IKEA, with the caveat that bookcases don't have heavy refrigerators that have to be leveraged into place at the top of the unit. :-) I would recommend placing the cabinet in its final location and then putting in the chiller. Also, if you're smarter than I was, you'll do an initial leveling of the unit before you put on the door and put in the chiller; the unit weighs a lot less then, and the leveler legs aren't the easiest things to get to.
Fit and finish wasn't impeccable, but was decent. The unit's cabinet came together squarely and fairly well; there was one spot on the frame where the edge was a little rough and raw wood showed, but a small black marker took care of that easily enough.
The door was actually very impressive. The perimeter magnetic strip was strong enough to hold the door in place by itself while I put on the top hinge, adjusted for squareness, and tightened.
During the initial cooldown the unit seemed a little noisy, but either I'd gotten used to it or it had settled down after about a day of operation. Chilldown from 75 deg. (starting temperature) to 65 degrees took a few hours with 2.5 cases racked; to go from 65 to 60 took another day, at least according to a digital thermometer / hygrometer I placed on the top rack. Since then the thermometer's been fluctuating from 59 - 61 deg, while the temperature setpoint on the refrigerator has been stable at 57 deg. At this point I suspect the thermometer, as it's new and it seems to read "warm" to me when it's in a room; I will cross-check with another thermometer later. At any rate, the system appears easy enough to recalibrate if needed.
Cabinet vibration is minimal according to the "hand test," which isn't surprising given the mounting of the chiller unit.
Humidity seems to have stabilized out around 60%, more or less. Of course I see a bounce when I open the door, as well as on temperature. That's expected; the main point is, it seems to be holding well, and there's no condensate to speak of in the drip pan.
The wire rack system isn't really anything special, and the racks don't slide. Think about this, though: how often do you really want to slide out an entire tray full of wine (say, 12 - 14 bottles)? If you have a good inventory notebook, this really isn't necessary anyway. As with most of these systems, you get the full capacity when bottles are stored "nose to tail" on the slider racks, and this precludes full capacity if your bottles have strange shapes (e.g. long, tapered, etc.) There are sections up near the cooling unit, and below the bottommost rack, where you can store unusual bottles, etc.
Extras: the unit comes with a glass-panel door, a light (manual, not door-operated) and a keylock at no extra charge. Both work as advertised, although - like every unit like this - you soon realize that a little light at the top of the cabinet is not going to give more than "mood lighting" of the wine cellar to impress your guests. You had best have a good backlight if you really need to go digging ... so, slideout trays or a good inventory notebook again. :-) Re the keylock, a serious burglar will simply break the glass door, but the lock will probably suffice for casual pilferers. A solid-face door wasn't an option, and frankly, I didn't want one. It is an option for some units, for which a key might be a better deterrent; but, as the manual points out, if the collection is worth locking up, it should be insured.
Overall, I like the unit. Assembly wasn't the easiest thing I've put together, but the overall procedure seems to work well and the cabinet seems sturdy. Also, I now have a good appreciation of what actually goes into a standalone wine cellar, which is cool (pardon the pun). The unit appears to work well, both according to my ear and to the little thermo/hygrometer I tossed in. Although the temperature sensor might be reading low, it's easy to recalibrate it if needed. I'd recommend this unit.
I would not recommend the VT100 if you have the space for the 200 (it's only a little deeper, and the same width and height), simply because of the small cost difference vs. capacity increase. Assembly should be roughly the same in terms of nuisance factors, etc.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 1200
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
lewellen
|
|
Reviews written: 1
Trusted by: 0 members
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.