How I Learnt a Thing or Two about Wine (and Wine Coolers)
I’m going to start off by telling you that my older sister and I are just about inseparable. We shared an apartment for five years, and when she moved out it was like a huge hole had been left in my life. That’s all behind me now of course and our relationship has moved to a new level. Instead of fighting over who is going to wear what top or skinny jeans, we meet for dinner at least twice a week for a good old girly catch-up.
On these evenings we also swap tips on what the latest dish is we’ve found and which wine goes best with it. One day, my sister cooked a wonderful halibut dish and we had a fantastic white Burgundy wine to go with it. A week later we were discussing what we would have for dinner the next time and, without even thinking we decided on another fish dish.
When we sat down for dinner, my sister brought in the beautifully chilled wine that I was looking forward to accompanying the gastronomic delight that sat before me (tilapia filets this time). I took one sip, looked at her and quipped “you’ve changed the wine”. She quipped back “no I haven’t”.
I was confused? This glass of the exact same Burgundy tasted totally different. In fact, so much better that I thought she had changed labels or poored another bottle in the Burgundy to fool me. I played hard to get and we ate, chatted and drank as if nothing happened. But after dinner I was still curious about why the wine tasted so different, yet it was supposed to be the exact same Burgundy we had drank the week before.
My First Lesson in Keeping Wine
I broached the subject whilst we were tidying the dishes away and my sister casually mentioned she had invested in an 8 bottle wine cooler from Haier. I had no idea that you could keep wines in anything but the fridge and, that if you do, it makes an enormous difference.
My curiosity was up so, I asked my sister where this “fridge” was. She pointed to a small space underneath the counter in her kitchen. Without thinking I said to her “it’s not very attractive is it”? To me, it just looked like a dark metal cabinet with a frosted glass door. I also noted that you couldn’t really see what the wines were inside.
Being a complete novice, I asked her if you have to open the door to choose the wine (not very handy, and it might affect the temperature). My sister then walked over to the cabinet and turned the ligh on, and behold the inside was illuminated with a really cool blue light. Suddenly, it was really easy to see the wines inside.
My next question was about to be “well, what difference does it make” but then I remembered I had just tasted the difference.
My Second Lesson in Keeping Wine
I got talking with my sister about why she had decided to buy this Haier wine cooler (the HVTM08ABS as I read on the cabinet). My sister explained that she started to gain an interest in not just drinking wine but also getting the best from what it has to offer.
She had been told by a co-worker about this cooler and had done some research. She told me it was, so far, the “coolest” appliance she had ever bought. She then elaborated on temperature ranges, chrome racks and something called a thermoelectric cooling system. I was starting to get a little lost at this point so she told me this had just to do with how quietly the fan worked.
I was also treated to a quick explanation on why it’s important to keep certain wines at a steady temperature which a standard fridge isn’t really capable of doing. But, then I already knew this because I had just drunk the evidence!
My one final question about the HVTM08ABS (still dining out on knowing the model number) was what the deciding factor was for the purchase. This one was easy to answer, she simply said “the price”!
Like me, my sister always buys at Amazon (really, their prices and customer service are unbeatable), and the Haier can be found right HERE at Amazon.com. And indeed, I think it’s a very fair price for such a great little wine cooler.
Not long after my encounter with the Haier (and the lessons from my sister) I decided to buy a slightly bigger 12 bottle Avanti wine cooler, which has been an excellent purchase.
The next step up is the Sunpentown 20 bottle wine cooler, which would be my recommendation if you want to go even bigger than 12 bottles.
Further Information