NewAir Wine Fridge Delivers Cooling Comfort: A Review

We put the NewAir 24 in. Black Stainless Steel Wine Fridge to the test in our latest review.

A Forceful Rap

About 10 or 12 years ago we received a nice gift from our friends. It was an eight-bottle wine fridge that found its place in our wine cellar basement. When we relocated to North Carolina the trusty little fridge made its way with us, finally settling on the counter in the butler pantry.

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For a couple of years, the little unit was stocked with rosé and chilled white wines that could be grabbed when the mood struck or when my wife decided to have a bubble bath. For a few days I noticed a strained whirring sound. In the beginning, a slight rap on the top ended the noise and the faithful servant returned to its duty.

The dreadful day came, though, when even a forceful rap couldn’t rouse the aging machine. With no power and no alternative, the faithful fridge was retired to the electronics recycling center.

The NewAir Is A Major Upgrade

The replacement is a major upgrade. The NewAir 15” Black Stainless Steel 29-Bottle Dual Zone Wine Fridge (SKU: NWC029SS01) was a joy from the glad moment I unpacked it. This is a beautiful looking unit. Mine is black with a stainless steel front door and handle.

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The assembly is a snap. The wooden shelves are inserted and the door handle attached. Along with a good wipe-down with warm water, it all can be accomplished in a few minutes. The instructions recommended that the fridge be allowed to settle for 24 hours before being plugged in. It was difficult, but finally the appointed time came.

Once plugged in, I was surprised how quickly the fridge cooled each zone to the appropriate temperature. The upper zone (for whites and sparkling) can be set between 40 and 50 degrees Fahrenheit. The lower zone can be set between 50 and 66 degrees for reds. The top and bottom shelf give extra height for large Champagne or Pinot Noir bottles.

The NewAir wine fridge is cooled by a compressor and really delivers cooling power. By contrast, thermoelectric units can only cool the wine relative to the ambient room temperature. With the NewAir, my whites are ready to drink straight from the fridge.

Another pleasant surprise is the noise level. Having a couple of thermoelectric fridges, I expected the compressor to be noisy. Not so! The operation is very quiet – almost undetectable unless the house is completely silent.

Finding A Place For Your Bottles

The stated capacity is 29 bottles, but it will require some savvy bottle placement to achieve that. That capacity could probably be reached if all the wine were in Bordeaux-style bottles and placed head to toe on each shelf. I’ve got quite a few bottles of Pinot Noir, which have the wider Burgundy style bottles. Fifteen to 20 bottles will fit comfortably in the NewAir and several more with planning.

Technically, the NewAir pushes all the right buttons. It’s quiet. It cools swiftly. It can accommodate large sparkling wine bottles.

The NewAir 15” wine fridge really shines aesthetically, too. This is billed as a built-in wine fridge and I didn’t realize that it is a very attractive stand-alone unit as well. We had intended to place this under the counter in the butler pantry (and it still may end up there). It looks mighty nice in our dining room right now – and it is within arm’s reach. The blue LED lights are elegant and gives it a first-class look.

This is a well-crafted wine appliance that we’ve enjoyed greatly. We’re pleased to give it a high rating and recommendation.

Full disclosure: This wine fridge was received as a marketing sample.

Invisible Enemy Strikes My Wine Fridge

Battling the enemy within!

Mold Invades My Wine Stash

We’ve heard quite a bit about the “invisible enemy” recently. Although the talk currently is about COVID-19, I recently fought my battle with a different foe.

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I was upset when I went to the wine fridge only to discover mold had started to attack the label of my 1994 Château Pavie Macquin Saint Emilion Grand Cru. Before this I was blissfully unaware that mold can invade your wine fridge.

Back in Ohio, my wine cellar was in my basement – where the temperature was cool year-round. After our move to North Carolina, with its sweltering summers, I had to switch to a pair of wine fridges to properly protect my vino.

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Much to my dismay, I have learned that microscopic mold spores are floating in the air everywhere. They find a surface they can latch onto and start to grow. If it gets into your wine refrigerator, it can rot your wine labels and corks.

What About The Wine?

Before I attacked the mold, I decided it was time to attack the wine. It was high time to open my Saint Emilion. I didn't want to expose the rest of my bottles to the moldy label. The cork was intact, but crumbled as I tried to pull it. After straining into a decanter, I took a sniff.

At first there was an acetone odor and the taste was medicinal. Gradually, the funk started to dissipate, like the sun burning off the morning fog.

Free of the funk, there is a core of blueberry and dark fruit accented with cigar box and a riffle of minerality. Twenty-six years on, there's was lot to like about this wine. We spent the entire evening sipping it. Then it was time to go to work.

Unfortunately, mold needs the same conditions that we have inside our wine fridge: water, food, darkness and a stable temperature.  Corks are made of wood (mostly) and labels are made of cellulose. Mold decomposes both these substances. Based on my experience, an old label is like an aged porterhouse steak to hungry mold spores.

To address the situation in my cooler, I pulled all my bottles and wiped them down with a diluted mixture (50-50) of ammonia solution and water. The inside of the fridge also got a good wiping.

I placed a packet of silica beads (that came in a package for another product) into the fridge and also a small box of baking soda to boot. I also increased the temperature in my fridge by a couple of degrees to throw the mold spores off balance.

The solution has worked. I check occasionally, but try not to be opening the fridge so often that mold rushes back in. Here is a link to a great resource from NewAir, a manufacturer of wine refrigerators. In this time of crisis, the last thing we need is to be fighting two invisible enemies.