With a Design That Grows on You
Edgy. Modern.
What do these words mean?
Honestly, I’m pretty sure they mean something slightly different to every single person. But what I have recently realized is that if I had to name a wine cooler manufacturing company that consistently delivers edgy, polarizing, “yep, I’m meant to stand out from the crowd” design, that would be Whynter.
For instance, one of the Whynter models reviewed on this website has a silver metal cabinet as well as a front door with trim made out of grey plastic. That’s definitely not something you see every day in wine cooler land (a land of which I am a dedicated and enthused inhabitant — maybe a bit too enthused).
Anyway, I have a theory. I think the good folks at Whynter were sick and tired of all the glossy, all black or entirely monochromatic wine coolers which basically all look the same after a little while (aside from a tiny logo near the bottom of the front door, usually). So they came up with the aforementioned unit with the door trimmed with grey plastic. And they also came up with this model, the Whynter WC-241DS 24 Bottle Dual Zone Wine Cooler.
Outward Appearance
To be perfectly honest, the first time I saw this Whynter model, I had to do a double take. And then I was like, “huh?” I thought the design was a bit head scratching. But I must confess that the more I looked at it, the more the unconventional design grew on me.
This Whynter wine cooler has a mainly black exterior. I say “mainly” because there is a relatively small area of exterior that is not black but is highly visible. The sides of the door frame are trimmed all the way around with stainless steel. To be clear, the front frame that goes around the front of the door is black. It is only the side of the door which is stainless steel (the part that also houses the recessed handle, which just so happens to be black).
Furthermore, each of the six metal shelves is trimmed with a straight bar of stainless steel. This is exceedingly noticeable when the cooler door is closed (and of course even more noticeable with the cooler door open). When the door is closed, it almost looks like six horizontal parallel metal bars are attached to the door glass.
The interior of this unit is lit with soft white energy efficient LED lighting. Another thing to note is the soft touch digital control panel, which controls the LED light as well as the temperatures and which runs horizontally across the door of the cooler, bisecting the door into two halves, an upper half and a lower half.
Form Follows Function
Upon closer inspection of the instrument panel, you will begin to see the reason for this eye catching design. This Whynter unit is in fact a dual zone wine cooler. On the soft touch digital panel, you can adjust the temperature for the top half of the unit, and you can (with a separate set of soft touch buttons to avoid confusion) separately adjust the bottom half of the wine cooler to its own distinct temperature. The black bar holding the temperature controls which bisects the cooler is a complement to the insulating black divider inside the cooler which separates the two zones.
In terms of cooling, the upper zone offers a range of 54 to 66 degrees Fahrenheit, and the lower zone allows for a range of 46 to 66 degrees Fahrenheit. This makes the upper zone perfect for storing red wines, while the lower zone with its potentially cooler temperatures is suitable for storing most white wines.
The scalloped stainless steel removable shelves can cradle three bottles of wine per shelf, allowing for 12 bottles in the top half of the unit and 12 bottles in the bottom half (the zone divider holds 3 bottles and the bottom of the wine cooler also holds 3 bottles).
And let’s not forget about the thermoelectric cooling system! This feature allows for cooling that is free of vibrations and exceedingly quiet, since it does not use a compressor to cool the wine. Furthermore, to ensure a consistent temperature and air quality within each zone, air is forced to circulate through internal fans.
Overall
So basically, there is a method to the madness. In this case, form follows function. The exceedingly useful and versatile dual zone cooling necessitates certain design choices. But in my case at least, this is a design that grows on you with each passing moment. So if this edgy yet functional wine cooler piques your interest, check it out here at Amazon.com.
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