jlundquist1's Full Review: Emerson FR23RD Wine Cooler
We received the Emerson 8 bottle wine cooler as a Christmas gift. My wife and I enjoy wine and entertaining with it. We're not much into "collecting" wine so we don't keep bottles that long. We also tend to stay under $15 a bottle. Needless to say we'd call ourselves enthusiasts, but not experts. We live in Texas and tend to enjoy Texas wines.
Prior to receiving this gift we kept our wine in a cabinet. We didn't see any problems with that. Now I read that 55 degrees is the optimum temperature to store all wine. Even though this cooler advertises that it is "low power consumption" I'm a bit of a miser, so I keep the cooler on 60 degrees.
The Emerson cooler is very stylish. We have the "red" version which I believe is what is pictured. The only red part of the cooler is the door. The majority of the cooler is black. The manual also states that the cooler is not suitable to be placed in a cabinet, as the cooling vents are in the back on the top and sides.
I'll be honest. I've never "aged" a wine much more than the time between when we buy it to when we have an opportunity to drink it (which depending on sales, holidays, etc. can be immediately to a few months). I really couldn't say if keeping the wine at a specific temperature improves the taste.
I do notice that this cooler is very quiet when it's operating. It easily holds 8 bottles in two stainless steel racks inside. The door is nice in that it has an insulated glass window allowing you to see your wine. Because of this, and the black color, I would be sure to place this cooler where it won't receive direct sunlight through a window. The manual states that it can only cool about 25 degrees cooler than the ambient temperature. I doubt this would be a very good cooler out side during hot months, and I surely wouldn't use it for anything but wine (i.e. food). There are three buttons on the door handle: temp up, temp down, and light. There is also a digital temp. indicator on the handle which lights when you hit the light button. The cooler beeps when you hit a button so you know it's been pressed which is nice. Inside the cooler there is an LED light to illuminate the inside when you hit the light button. This is pretty much useless except in a pitch dark room. The cooler has legs that you can adjust to level. Unlike most fridges there is nothing in the manual that says you have to level the cooler for it to work properly, although I doubt it can hurt. There is also a washable mesh filter on the rear air intake.
I haven't tested this cooler to see if the temperature is accurate. I does cool though that's for sure.
The only con to this cooler is the odd size. All the refrigeration equipment is in the rear. To accept horizontal 750ml bottles this makes the cooler pretty long. We have a (what I would assume is) pretty normal size counter. If we placed it there the door would be to the edge, which to me looks strange. We bought a microwave stand to put this on. It barely fits. If there was a way to put the cooler on it's side I'd like it better, but you cant. The door also only opens from the left (hinge on the right).
Overall I'd say this is a pretty good wine cooler (although as I'm sure you've noticed, I wouldn't know if it were a bad one from an expert's point of view). It's very stylish, and with 8 bottles in it, even if they aren't expensive, it looks good. It's quiet and the controls are simple. However the length of the cooler makes it hard to place in a kitchen or on furniture
Fantastic prices with ease & c...(Stock status: N/A)
Keep your wine stored at the precise temperatures needed to enjoy perfect taste and preservation with the 8-bottle wine cooler from Emerson. The FR23...More at Amazon Marketplace
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