Wine cabinets, like the usual cabinets, are box-like furniture pieces that were made to keep valuable items. In this case, these valuable items are bottles of wine. Wine cabinets vary in designs and features. But they can generally be categorized into passive and active wine cabinets.

Passive Wine Cabinets

Passive wine storage simply implies that there is no temperature-control used to store and cellar the wine. The passive wine cabinet is similar to a basic cloth cabinet. It is typically made of wood with transparent or non-transparent door and can hold about 24 bottles of wine. It is priced at $150 for a 24-bottle wine cabinet, which is about 38x13x19 inches. The larger the cabinet is, the more wines can be kept, but the more expensive it becomes.

There are still other factors that affect the price like the material used and other wine cabinet features. Steel, metals, and hardwood are typically costlier than veneers and softwoods. The basic enclosed cabinet is also much cheaper compared to a cabinet with the same bottle capacity but has additional features like drawers for wine accessories and wine glass rack.

Since the basic wine cabinets are passive, they should be stored in a dark room with the ideal temperature and humidity. They can be the best choice if the collector already has a room for a wine collection. It’s also a good choice for keeping consumable wines.

Active/Refrigerated Wine Cabinets

Another type of wine cabinets that are gaining more attention today is the active wine cabinets. This type works like a wine refrigerator only that it is better than the usual fridge.

A wine refrigerator or cooler is used only for consumable wines while the passive wine cabinets are specially made for valuable wine collections. Their temperature and humidity inside can be adjusted to the most accurate settings. The most ideal, however, is for the temperature to run from 55 to up to 57 degrees Fahrenheit and for the humidity to be from 50% to 70%.

Although with advanced features, the active wine cabinets are still using the same elegant materials and designs as the passive cabinets. They are hard to distinguish from the traditional wine cabinets without seeing the touch-on temperature-and-humidity control panel.

Active wine cabinets are rarely seen with 24 or lesser bottle capacity. Some can even go as much as holding 2,500 bottles.

With advanced features, the active wine cabinets are expected to have much higher price than the passive cabinets. A wine cabinet with 170-bottle capacity and 72x31x29 inches is typically priced at almost $5,000.

Whether passive or active, all of the wine cabinets have to be put in a stable and dark location. Among the best brands of wine cabinets are Marvel, Haier, Danby, Avanti, Le Cache, Vinoteque, and Howard Miller.