What Size Bottle Will My Wine Cooler Fit?

This is a question we get asked a lot and it is important to note that no wine cooler is the same and almost every manufacturer will set up their wine coolers differently.

The standard bottle shape that all manufacturers work to is the typical Bordeaux bottle.

All wine coolers have a rated capacity of a certain amount of Bordeaux bottles - for example, a 600mm under counter wine cooler will have an approximate capacity of between 34 and 53 Bordeaux bottles depending on whether the wine cooler is single or dual temperature zones.

Read on to learn more about wine cooler capacities, and whether your wine cooler can fit certain types of bottles. 

Will the Capacity Stay The Same if I Store Larger Bottles?

Since the standard bottle is the Bordeaux bottle, you will find that in most cases your overall capacity will decrease if you store larger bottles. 

For example, a capacity of 39 Bordeaux bottles will only be approximately 32-35 Burgundy bottles, depending on the wine cooler, as the bottles are almost 2.5cm wider than a Bordeaux so therefore take up more space.

There are two ways in which manufacturers will construct their wine coolers:

• The distance between shelves will be wide enough for Bordeaux bottles, but not larger champagne or burgundy bottles.  By doing this, you increase you capacity and also provide the customer with more shelves than a wine cooler with wider spacings between the shelves.  This type of unit usually come with easily removable shelves should you want to hold a few champagne bottles for example.  By removing a shelf, this allows you to stack wine bottles which can increase your capacity.
  
  
• Provide shelves that cater for champagne bottles.  By doing this, yes you can store larger bottles but the capacity is greatly reduced as this creates an un even distribution of positions for shelves to go so you end up with far less space than you would if it was distributed evenly like in the first set up.

Although it seems like logical thinking to create gaps between shelves large enough for champagne bottles, this isn't always the case as you actually have the same storage capacity with shelves set up for Bordeaux bottles as you would with wider shelving.  By simply removing shelves, you can store larger bottles and more of them.

Some manufacturers, such as Swisscave produce specific shelving for larger bottles which increases the distance between the slats and therefore allows the bottles to sit lower on the shelf so the labels don't scrape on the shelf above.  This does decrease the capacity per shelf though so the overall capacity can be 25-35% lower than that of normal Bordeaux shelving.

In terms of shelving space and temperature control, Swisscave wine coolers are the best products. If you have a collection of different wine variants and need expert storage that’ll be able to accommodate them efficiently, look no further than Swisscave cooler units. 

Swisscave wine coolers have a range of key features, with mixed shelving included. Having a wine cooler with mixed shelving enables you to store different-shaped bottles, perfect for those who like to mix their collection and store a varied selection. To look at our Swisscave range further, be sure to check out the products within the collection today.

For anymore queries you may have visit our frequently asked questions page or get in touch with us today.