46 Bottles of Wine? Chill them all in the NewAir Wine Fridge with Dual Zone Control (Model – NWC046BS00) – Review

Where do you store your wine? On a shelf? In the “garage fridge” or your normal refrigerator? Or do you just buy and drink? My wife and I have been doing a combination of all of these. Our garage fridge held a bunch of white wines and champagne, and our bookcases had a few wine racks here and there for the reds. But now, we can store up to 46 bottles of wine in a dual chilling zone fridge dedicated to controlling the temperature of wines and storage. This NewAir Wine Fridge amazingly holds up to 46 bottles and has dedicated cooling zones for red and white wine bottles. (*Disclosure below.)

But the NewAir Wine Fridge is not just a cooler you simply tuck away. Its design is made to have it front and center. It is almost a conversation piece as there are elegant touches that make it simply want to be on display. And while it is designed to easily fit into cabinetry, we didn’t have the luxury to do that, so it is now a standalone piece showcasing our wine collection (we are NOT wine collectors in any manner, though).

From its black stainless steel to the beech wood shelves inside that carefully hold wine bottles on their sides, the NewAir Wine Fridge looks at home in a kitchen, dining room, and even a living room, not to be tucked out of sight somewhere.

While looks are quite significant, the technology inside ensures that your whites and sparkling wines remain chilled while your reds stay slightly less chilled (although my father disagrees with the concept of chilling red wines). However, maintaining consistent temperatures ensures they don’t go bad. NewAir has a good article about choosing the proper temperature for your wines, including a mention of reds not needing to be chilled. They do state that American homes are traditionally much warmer (than wine cellars), thus part of the reason why you may want to chill your reds a bit.

Key Features of the NewAir 46 Bottle Dual Zone Wine Fridge

This NewAir Wine Fridge (and NewAir has a LOT of different wine fridge models) has several core features worth bragging about. And while I’m not a wine aficionado, nor have I ever had a wine fridge before, these features make a lot of sense to me. So let me go into some of the details.

Dual Temperature Zones for all wine types

The dual climate zones are something that I instantly thought was important because not all wines are the same and need to be served at different temperatures. For example, sparkling wines and champagnes should be served quite cold, while whites and rosés should be more lightly chilled. And, as my dad recommends (as well as others), reds should be served around room temperature, assuming room temperature is not 70 degrees but more in between 60 and 65 degrees.

The nice thing about this NewAir Wine Fridge is that it does have dual temperature zones. The Upper Zone can be set between 40 and 50 degrees Fahrenheit. And the Lower Zone can be set between 50 and 66 degrees.

In this NewAir Wine Fridge, the different zones hold different amounts of wine bottles. The upper deck is smaller and because it can be set at a lower temperature is appropriate for those sparkling wines, or you can use it as that chilling zone before having a dinner party and move some of your wines from the lower deck to the upper one the day prior.

After doing some research, I have changed mine from the default (out of the box setting) of 40 degrees for the upper and 50 degrees for the larger lower section to 50 and 55 degrees, respectively. And I will probably be moving some of my reds out of the lower section simply because our house is not warm.

Digital Thermostats, Controls, and Readouts

As I’m discussing temperature, it’s important to call out some of the controls and digital displays that make up this NewAir Wine Fridge. As the fridge is divided into two zones, there is a readout and set of controls separating these two zones.

For starters, you can select if you want the temperatures shown as Celcius or Fahrenheit. Simply pressing the far button on the left toggles the temperature measurement display.

At the center of the control panel are the digital readouts of the set temperatures and the actual temperatures. The left shows the Upper Zone, and the right shows the Lower Zone. The temperature in the box is the measured temperature of that zone. Below that is the temperature you have set that zone to.

As you change the temperature either up or down, there are icons that indicate what the wine fridge is doing: cooling, heating, or maintaining the temperature.

On either side of the temperature readouts are up and down arrows. These soft-touch buttons (like the others on this panel) let you control the temperature setting one degree at a time. So it’s quite easy to fine-tune the exact temperature you desire.

Lastly, at the far right is a light button. There are three levels of light: off, bright, and dim. Built into the top of the fridge as well as into the bottom of the control panel are several blue LED lights. These cool-looking lights give the display of your wines a sense of elegance yet also look relatively modern in nature.

Lockable, Triple-Tempered Glass Doors

As you can imagine, the front door panel is glass so that you can easily display and see your collection of wine, including when it is bathed in that cool, blue lighting I just described. The glass is triple-tempered in order for it to ensure that the air within the NewAir Wine Fridge remains cool and consistent at the desired temperature.

Also, since storing wine in the sun is not recommended, the glass is treated with a UV layer to block out those harmful rays and keep your wine cool. Sunlight can cause oxidation of your wine, and this UV layer will help to prevent that from happening.

At the bottom of the fridge, on the lower panel, is a lock that allows you to secure your precious vintages from those who should not have access. This is ideal in family environments where underage drinkers might be present and searching for some libations to consume, for example.

It is not a true key and is somewhat proprietary, so I highly recommend you separate the keys and let each “adult” who controls the wine store them separately. The doors do lock reasonably well, but remember, it won’t be locked like Fort Knox.

The one thing that you have to do when assembling the NewAir Wine Fridge is attach the handle. This easily attaches with just a screwdriver. It’s important to note that the door is reversible, meaning you can have it open to the left or the right. The fridge does come with extra door hinges as well. You simply have to rotate the door, so the handle is on the opposite side of the hinges.

Install it or Leave it Free-Standing

The versatility of installation is critical when choosing a wine fridge. Some are designed to purely be installed into cabinetry or under standard kitchen counters. Other wine fridges are made to be stand-alone. But what type you choose is important, particularly if you are going to install it into cabinetry.

This NewAir Wine Fridge is designed to either be installed or be free-standing. It has a front-venting compressor system which means that the ventilation is designed for those in-cabinet installations. You do not want to have vents in the back where the hot air will build up in the cabinet, as that will actually cause the fridge to heat up and work harder.

It does weigh about 104 pounds, and you should have someone help you move it around. The bottom legs are adjustable slightly so that you can balance it. Adjustments can change the height of the NewAir Wine Fridge slightly, so if you are measuring a space to see if it can and will fit, be sure that whatever space you have is larger than the fridge’s dimensions.

It measures 22.5″ deep (with the handle attached, it is 24″). It is 23.5″ wide and 33″ high, according to the specifications on the NewAir website. I did some quick measurements and can confirm that those are the correct numbers for the most part. It is more like 24.25″ deep with the handle attached. And our height is about 33.25″, probably because of the feet adjustment.

Huge amount of storage for the size

As I mentioned, this NewAir wine fridge can hold up to 46 bottles of wine. I find it difficult to believe that I would ever own 46 bottles of wine, but as it turns out, we have well over 30 bottles currently stored in it. However, bottles do have different sizes. Some champagnes are quite fatter in the base, for example. Those are a bit tricky to store within this fridge as the five shelves are a fixed height.

The shelves are made of beech wood and slide outwards part of the way so you can see the wines on the shelves. You can remove the shelves by lifting them out. The shelves have slats that allow you to alternate the orientation of the bottles while holding them in place.

If you are going to store many bottles on a shelf, you will want to change the orientation of every other bottle – one base out and one neck out. Using this method, you can store eight bottles per shelf for a total of forty bottles (8×5=40). You can also store six bottles on the very bottom of the fridge (I secretly have put beer bottles there…just in case I feel the urge for some beer), but you can’t do the alternating orientation method at the bottom.

The total capacity of this wine fridge is 5.3 cubic feet.

Additional observations, thoughts, and pricing

While the features I mentioned above are the primary ones, I did want to add a few other details from using this NewAir Wine Fridge over the past month or so. I don’t have any extended usage feedback yet, as the unit is relatively new.

This wine fridge is relatively quiet. You hear the compressor turn on from time to time, but it is barely noticeable. Inside, there are fans that quietly run to spread the cool air throughout the fridge. There are two fans for the top zone and two for the bottom.

Included with the fridge is a plastic tray with notches in it. After some research, I learned that you fill this tray with water to maintain humidity within the refrigerator. This is important to help prevent the wine corks from drying out. This is entirely optional to use.

The installation process literally takes about a minute or so. First, you probably will want to level the fridge by adjusting the screwable feet. Then, you will want to attach the handle, as I mentioned earlier. Lastly, you will want to wipe down the walls and the shelves before first use. Use a damp cloth and some baking soda with warm water to eliminate any odors. Also, you will want to run the fridge empty for a day or so as it balances out and stabilizes the temperature.

The NewAir Wine Fridge with Dual Zone control (Model – NWC046BS00) retails for $1,299.99 on the NewAir site. And if you use promocode HIGHTECHDAD_10 you can get 10% off of your purchase! Also, this fridge is currently (as of the writing of this review) on sale on Amazon for $982.35 (24% off)!

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My wife and I had been considering getting a wine fridge for a long time. We wanted something smaller than a large-standing fridge, but we also wanted to store many bottles and have a nice-looking appliance that could be on display in our home. This black stainless steel wine fridge by NewAir checked off all of our requirements!

Disclosure: I have a material connection because I received a sample of a product for consideration in preparing to review the product and write this content. I was/am not expected to return this item after my review period. All opinions within this article are my own and are typically not subject to editorial review from any 3rd party. Also, some of the links in the post above may be “affiliate” or “advertising” links. These may be automatically created or placed by me manually. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item (sometimes but not necessarily the product or service being reviewed), I will receive a small affiliate or advertising commission. More information can be found on my About page.

HTD says: If you are looking for an elegant wine fridge that holds several dozen wine bottles, has a slick-looking black stainless steel finish, and has dual-zone temperature controls to keep any type of wine chilled to a consistent temperature, you need to have this 46-bottle NewAir Wine Fridge at the top of your list!