| Any type of utensil or piece of equipment that is used to keep wine chilled. Depending on function, wine coolers may be a simple as a table top containers to cool wine as well as hand held totes to carry chilled wine or as elaborate as refrigerated units that hold many bottles of wine that can be maintained at specific temperatures. Containers made for keeping wine cool are typically insulated and made of a variety of materials. Wine coolers, which may also be referred to as a wine chiller, are made from neoprene, vinyl, or double-walled glass, plastic, metal or any insulated material that enables the bottle to fit easily, but without excess space, into the container that assists to keep the wine chilled.
Hand held totes, which are typically made from neoprene or vinyl are designed to be used for carrying and keeping bottles cold for picnics or parties a short distance away, since they only keep wine chilled for a limited amount of time ranging from 1 to 3 hours. Made to be placed in the freezer prior to use, the flexible, insulated materials are constructed to hold single bottles or as many as three bottles of wine. Some totes are made with a shoulder strap to make it easier to carry while others have open holes for hands to grasp the top of the tote in order to carry it.
The refrigerated units for cooling wine are varied in different types, sizes, styles, and functions. Similar to refrigerators, they can maintain temperatures at designated levels or on many models, at precise levels so wines are continually kept chilled to the desired degree. As technology enables increased functionalities, wine coolers or wine vaults as some are named, now have electronic monitoring devices built into the units so that not only temperature, cooling and circulation are precisely controlled, but also abilities to read bar coding of wine bottles as they are stored enables precise control of elements related to the coding. Bar code readers enable tracking of bottle inventories and other data that can be of value to those desiring more information about their wine endeavors. From small under counter storage units to large walk in vaults, wine coolers are being built and designed to accommodate a wide variety of needs. |
