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May 24, 2023

The 8 Best Wine Gadgets to Keep Your Bottles Cool at Home or on the Go

Whether at home or on a beach or boat, when temperatures soar we all need to keep our wine cold. White wines should be served between 45 and 50 degrees Fahrenheit and reds are best poured in the 55 to

Whether at home or on a beach or boat, when temperatures soar we all need to keep our wine cold. White wines should be served between 45 and 50 degrees Fahrenheit and reds are best poured in the 55 to 65 degree range. On a hot summer day, that’s 20 to 30 degrees below “room” temperature for reds and an even bigger spread for whites. Heat seems to exaggerate the feeling of wine’s tannins in your mouth, making even the most delectable drops taste and feel unpleasant if served too warm. The easiest way to make a wine cold is to start with a cool bottle, which is a perfect reason to own a dedicated wine refrigerator. From palm-sized gadgets to full-size coolers, we’ve put together the ultimate list of items to help you and your wine keep cool wherever you will be this summer.

Flawlessly crafted to go from the C-suite to the steakhouse, Panier wine carry bags are designed by wine-industry insiders who need to keep their prize bottles protected and cold. Made from 1600 denier ballistic nylon and trimmed in full grain leather, this stylish black bag is the bulletproof tuxedo of wine carriers. Six individual full-length compartments have mesh pockets for small gel ice packs (not included), while interior and side pockets are perfectly sized to hold a Coravin, Durand, and several wine keys, and the center laptop compartment can accommodate another four bottles if you really want to go big on no-corkage night. The 1.5-inch-thick EVA foam bottom and water-resistant lining keep bottles and other items secure, while foam strap padding eases the burden on your back. PANIER bags are used by many high-end wine salespeople in New York and beyond, and founders Nic Bradley and Dhruv Singh have just made Henri and his siblings available to the wine-loving public.

Buy Now: $255

Helena Verellen and her brother Xavier decided to invent a solution to serve wine at proper temperature after drinking reds that were inadvertently served too warm. It took them eight years to bring the QelviQ to market; they assembled a team of sommeliers, wine experts, web developers, and product engineers to create this stylish bucket-sized cooler and the associated QelviQ App. Users can take a photo of the wine label with their smart phone and the App will search a database of over 350,000 wines to determine the proper serving temperature while giving you a bit of background info on the wine, the grape, and its region of origin. Put the bottle into the cooler and it gets to work cooling the wine with one touch of your phone’s screen. As an added benefit it keeps track of your wine inventory. The QelviQ cools your wine about three times faster than a refrigerator without requiring ice or water.

Buy Now: $495

Hands down, Miele makes the crème de la crème of full-size in-home wine coolers with easy access to your wine without bending, squatting, or kneeling. It holds 104 bottles of wine and amazingly takes up only 24 inches of floor space. There are three independent temperature zones to keep your whites, reds, and sparkling wines stored correctly and at the proper serving temperature. It has adjustable beechwood wooden slats that sit in slidable metal shelves that can be moved around to accommodate various bottle shapes and sizes. The large LED screen allows you to operate the lights and temperature controls and you can customize the cooler to fit in with your existing cabinetry or show off its beautiful stainless steel front door.

Buy Now: $10,499

This innovative chiller is simple to use and super cost effective. Store the “cork” in the freezer for at least 24 hours before the first use, insert it into the neck of a bottle, and pour the wine into a glass. It takes a few seconds for the wine to come out the other end, but we measured the temperature of two glasses of wine and found the wine that had passed through the Cold Cork was 20° F cooler. We had a bottle of California Pinot Noir that was at room temperature (74° F) that dropped to 54° F making it the perfect temperature to enjoy on the spot in the span of only 30 seconds. If you get impatient (like many of us) waiting for your wine to cool in an ice bucket or refrigerator, this gadget will find a permanent home in your freezer.

Buy Now: $65

Perfect for a day out on the water or nearby on the beach, the Wren Insulated Dry Bag Cooler is made of high-density rubberized PVC and comes in three fashionable colors. It has an airtight rolltop closure (that doubles as a handle) and heat-treated seams, so if you leave a little airspace it will float if it goes overboard or for a dunk in the pool. Removable, inflatable bubble core insulation will keep up to four pre-chilled bottles cold for a few hours, and the adjustable shoulder strap leaves your hands free for boarding your boat or spreading out a beach blanket. The external zipper compartment is great for holding keys and wallet, and on top of all that it’s quite simply a good-looking bag.

Buy Now: $50

Why hide that fancy wine label inside a metal bucket when you can show off your best bottle of bubbly in this crystal-clear glass wine cooler? Even if your wine has been perfectly chilled in your cooler or fridge, you still need to keep it at temperature on the table, and this helps you do it in style. The Nude Glacier Wine Cooler features two hand-pressed dimples so you can maintain your grip when ferrying it from wet bar to terrace, and the wide top lets you submerge your bottle at the ideal angle to maximize ice coverage.

Buy Now: $105

If you’re looking for an undercounter wine cooler and storage system for your kitchen or bar area, Sub-Zero makes units that fit in a smaller space. You can customize the exterior to integrate with your cabinets or simply feature its shiny stainless door. There’s a touch control panel that offers easy access to settings and it is Wi-Fi enabled so that you can remotely control the temperature for two separate zones. It can also assist with remote service calls or handily let you know when you’ve left the door ajar.

Buy Now: $4,245

Made with the latest technology including ingenious injected-mold design, RTIC’s Ultra-Light Cooler is more than 30 % lighter than traditionally manufactured coolers with the same volume. If there’s a big crowd on your boat or at your campsite, the Ultra-Light has your wine chilling needs covered. Its 3 inches of closed-cell foam insulation offers unparalleled ice retention, and as it’s not already doing enough it does double duty as a seat, non-slip step stool, table, or cutting board while keeping your bottles chilled to perfection.

Buy Now: $199