Take a look at the GE Monogram Beverage Centers. We almost purchased one until we decided to get a refrigerator for beverages & snacks instead. (Beverage centers & wine coolers do not get as cold as refrigerators & cannot safely be used for food items.) We built a wine cellar so we didn't have a need for a wine cooler.

SubZero also makes integrated wine coolers, but they're expensive.

"fully integrated" and cheap are not usually possible.

DO you just want a panel on your wine cooler or do you really want the entire unit to disappear into cabinetry including toekick?

If the latter , your options are very limited and none are "cheap"

Well, we aren't looking for "cheap". Just "cheapest" of the options. Or at least nothing more expensive than the u-line.

The GE seems to be about $400 cheaper than the u-line.

broconne- you still haven't answered the most important ???. What do you expect it to look like. Totally concealed and flush, just a matchy matchy panel, somewhere in between? What type of cabinetry do you have, euro, inset, face frame, partial overlay, full overlay?

FWIW - uline is in the beverage cooler business, that's all they do. GE makes fridges, jet engines, wind turbines, security systems, .................Wouldn't it stand to reason they'd be cheaper because they're not as good?

I think we are in the "somewhere in between" category. We would like a glass door with a face frame and to have it flush to the rest of the island.

We are having the house built (going under contract soon). And we expect to be using Wood-Mode cabinets and "Andover Raised Square" and finished with Cordovan on Maple.

I am not sure if the argument that uline is better at wine coolers because that is all they do and therefore should be more expensive because they are better holds. They could be more expensive because they can't buy and produce in the same quantities as others.

I just looked at consumer reports (Didn't think they would have a wine fridge rating - or I would have checked there first). And they actually rate U-line as the worst. Bad at keeping consistent temperatures and noise.

Look, I'm not pushing U-line, I really don't like them personally, but I feel their build quality is better than GE. GE is hit and miss, and is trying to divest itself of their appliance division.

You forgot to say if you were looking at a drawer version or a door.

I think a door version. Who does drawer?

I do appreciate your assistance and discussion.

Is there a brand besides U-Line and sub/zero that does integrated?

broconne:

Have you considered a free standing unit, such as a cradenza? I have a LaCache free standing unit now (tall) and it works great, is easy to maintain (if necessary - mine has been working hard for 5 yers without a hitch) and looks fine. I almost purchased a credenza unit that looks beautiful. True, they are a little more expensive but they are almost fine furniture anymore. For ease, you may want to take a look at the IWA online catalog as they have all sorts of options including what you are thinking about now, then search out the individual unit that fits your needs the best.

IMHO a kitchen is the worste place to keep wine, despite the fect that you will probably open it there. Lots of temp fluctuations and vibrations even though you are putting the bottles in a self contained "cooler". We are in a similar situation as you, what with going to contract on a home. Having said that, I sacraficed a closet as opposed to an integrated unit in the island (preventing me from having an ice maker) or under the counter (taking away more valuable appliance / storage space.

Don't mean to intrude in your plans - just figured I would share some other options to think about

Not intruding at all. We welcome all advice.

Honestly, the wine storage is for us both functional and stylish. I think we like the idea of a wine fridge for the look.

We don't own many bottles worth over $100 (probably less than 9) so if they go bad - well that is a bummer but not the end of the world. In this fridge we plan to have everyday wines for drinking.

The home will have 1500 square feet unfinished walk-out basement. We have plans to finish it in the future that includes a small walk-in wine storage area which we may store more expensive bottles.

We have a GE Monogram Stainless Steel Wine Reserve in a corner of the dining room. Holds 57 bottles, has a digital display, and is so quiet you can barely hear it when it's running -- and if you're not in the same room, you'll never hear it. It can use it as a built-in or as a stand-alone.

We've had it for a couple of years and really like it. I think we paid about $900 for it. Saw them in Expo the other day and the price tag was $1,200.

About a year ago we were considering getting another, but opted for a 500-bottle wine cellar (which is full). We still may get another GE Monogram Wine Reserve for the master suite, though...

Here is a link that might be useful: GE Monogram Wine Reserve

Thanks for the tip, Lindsey_ca.

We are considering that GE monogram, but with the overlay option so it would fit in with the island.

I have a question for you about that model - do the drawers slide well?

We went to a store yesterday and saw 2 models. A U-Line and a SubZero. The U-Line's drawers did not feel good - meaning when sliding them they were not smooth. My only hope with that is that when loaded down with wine the drawers slide better.

The SubZero was awesome, good action on the drawers. But out of our price range.

Lindsey_ca,

Second question for you. Something I can't tell from the website - for the GE can you store both red and white wine in the same fridge? Some of the others have different zones, even if they are not separated.

Is that the case with the GE?

There is a difference between a wine "cooler" and a portable wine cellar, which should allow you to store red and white wine at the appropriate temperatures and keep the proper humidity. Even though you want this to be for everyday wine storage, since it's in the kitchen you might want something with better environmental control. Vinotemp makes front-venting models made to be built-in. They have one that's only 15" wide. Eurocave is a bit pricier than Vinotemp, not sure how much they offer in the way of built-ins.

You could use this opportunity to check out one of these manufacturers, since you might want to go with them for your future wine cellar.

Broconne,

Yes, the drawers slide very easily, both when empty and when fully loaded.

No, there are not separate temperature zones for red and for white wines. But it's important to understand that you don't need to store the wines at different temperatures -- you serve the wines at different temperatures.

White wines such as champagne, pinot grigio, sauvignon blanc should be served when in the low to mid-40º range. Viognier and rosé should be served in the low 50º range. So, you can store them at 55º or 58º, then just stick them in the fridge for a very short bit before serving.

Even red wines should be served between high 50º and low 60º range, depending on the particular varietal.

Broconne, we have a KitchenAid Beverage fridge with a custom panel on it. It is not considered fully integrated because the panel on the bottom shows, but it was very reasonably priced (paid $900 when we purchased in Jan 2007, which was about $200+ less than MSRP). They come in wine fridge models that have two temperature zones, as well as the three zone beverage fridge that we have.

I saw a note about U-Line not performing well on Consumer Reports, and I wanted to respond. We at U-Line have no idea how they test the units (they don't let us know), so we assume they test temperatures at different sections of the unit looking for temperature stability (something Consumer Reports says U-Line does poorly at). Unfortunately, the U-Line unit is designed to have 3 distinct temperature zones within the unit, so the unit would NOT have the same temperature throughout.

As far as performance, all of the competition produces quality wine units (with the exception of some inexpensive units that you would buy at a Home Depot/Lowes). The keys for you in making a decision would be (in no particular order):

1) Price
2) Aesthetics
3) Storage
4) Setup (side swing, drawers, beverage center)
5) Number of zones (1, 2, 3)

As you appear to be looking at a unit to be integrated into cabinetry, all the brands you are looking at make good wine units. (Again, I'm not here to bash the competition)

Doug