They're not inexpensive, even used, but if you're planning to store good wine, I'd look for a good EuroCave.

Humidity and the proper temperature matter, and it's almost impossible to get them with just a fridge.

I've heard good things about Eurocave too. Do you have a wine snob store near you? If you do, you might want to go hang out there for a few hours and chat people up. :)

Thank you.
I've been checking out the wine spectator forums.
I'm in a tiny, tiny town and only one semi-snob wine store.
Thanks for your responses.

Maybe take a wine tour and chat up the wine snobs in Napa?

Plllog, that sounds like a dream trip. Have only done it once and look forward to it again...maybe after moving/closing on the house ;-)

If you are moving into that sizable a celler, it really is more than a fridge. I would suggest also if you are thinking 200-300 bottles, you may want to go bigger. I recently purchased a 360bottle celler which is pretty close to full.
I highly recommend looking at galt wine http://galtwine.com/ whose site I found from a Robert Parker link. They can drag their heels a bit, but they are very informative and will likely save you at least a few hundred dollars.

Thanks!I sent galtwine an email.

ah, a subject I know about. a true wine cellar is incredibly important. The advise I got when I first started collecting, is plan for the most wine you can imagine, then buy a cellar that can fit double. Even with that, I've gone through a couple cellars. I have used Galt. There are mixed reviews about them on the wine boards, but I've been pleased.

We had to find one to fit a smaller space and couldn't go larger. Ours is a Cave a Vin. We called a wine cellar place to check out cooling systems and insulation -- originally thinking we would convert a closet to get more storage. Didn't work out to be practical. They also told us they had people insist on built-ins being removed when they bought a house or refuse to buy a house with one in it (both issues involving alcoholics and religious reasons). They suggested this unit and ordered it for us. I think the cost was a good bit less than the others (Eurocave, etc.) and the biggest difference (for our needs at least) was cosmetics. We were happier to not pay for better looking since all you can see is the glass door. We've had ours 8-9 years now without a single issue -- other than changing which closet we decided to repurpose.

The Galt name is familiar, but I think we ordered through a Houston dealer.

Thank you again.
I will check out the Cave-a-vin.
If you have a link, feel free to post.
Maybe someone locally in Washington will pop up in my search.
I appreciate the info.

I have had a Eurocave for about 4 years now and it has been great. Very quiet and well-built. I have friends who love their Le Cache, quite a bit more, but beautiful furniture.

If you have time and interest, I have heard of folks picking up good buys on Craigslist (moving, up-grades, etc.).

It is a cliche, but those with experience recommend buying twice the size you think you need.

Thanks for checking on me.
We just moved in last month and are still unpacking.
UGH do I hate moving!
I currently have all my wine sitting on a rack in the dining room. Still trying to navigate where things go and how much to allocate for appliances.
I need to replace the electric cooktop with propane and redo the counters....too bad the economy is tanking...sigh.