N’FINITY 50-bottle Wine Cellar

Older Model, DISCONTINUNED:

N’FINITY PRO wine cellars are a fairly new line of wine cabinets launched by Wine Enthusiast. Wine Enthusiast started out as a mail order company selling wine accessories.

Today the company sells wine coolers, premium wine cabinets like Le Cache, Vinotheque and EuroCave, custom wine cellars and other wine accessories both through their website and catalogs.

Analyzing the reviews submitted to Wine Enthusiast’s website by their customers, especially the most frequent negative comments regarding the weaknesses of wine coolers and wine cellars, the company decided to design and manufacture a wine cabinet line that corrects these common problems:

• accommodating wine bottles of varying sizes,
• temperature requirements for storing different types of wines etc.).

That’s how N’FINITY, and a couple of years later the N’FINITY PRO wine cellars were born.

Due to the many quality complaints of the first N’FINITY line (23-bottle, 50-bottle, 170-bottle models):

• noisy compressor,
• temperature fluctuation,and
• poor customer service, and other problems

most of the first models have been discotinued while the manufacturer  is trying to rebrand the name under N’FINITY PRO and Kingsbottle.

Although you cannot make connection between the two companies based on their websites, Kingsbottle wine coolers are suspiciously look like the first N’FINITY units.

Check the KingsBottle 50-bottle wine refrigerator.

Current Models -N’FINITY PRO SERIES:

• a 46-bottle- model (dual-zone)
• a 92-bottle two door unit (two zones)
• 94-bottle dual-zone model
• two 166-bottle models: a single-zone and a dual-zone
• a 187-bottle dual-zone unit
• 332-bottle models (double side cabinets): single, two and multiple zone options

Older Models:

• a 23-bottle 2-zone wine cooler (no longer manufactured)
• a 50-bottle dual-zone unit (discontinued, a 46-bottle model has replaced it)
• a 100-bottle multi-temperature wine cellar
• a 121-bottle two-zone model (discontinued)
• a 170-bottle two-zone wine cabinet 8discontinued, a 166-bottle model has replced it9, and
• a 340-bottle multi-temperature wine cellar (a 332-bottle model has replaced this unit)

Alternatives To The N’FINITY 50-Bottle Wine Fridge

Here are some units with features and size similar to the N’FINITY model.

Colzer 51-Bottle Wine Cooler, Single Zone

This is a moderately priced home cellar designed for built-in or standalone installation.

It has received high ratings and great reviews on retail websites.

It is a great alternative to the N’FINITY 50-bottle cellar.

The modern look with the cool blue LED lights goes well with any home decor.

Let’s see what we like and don’t like about the Colzer YC-150A (51 bottles) fridge.

Dimensions

• Height: 34″
• Width: 23.4″
• Depth: 22.6″
• Weight: 100 lbs. (45 kg)

Price & Warranty

The Colzer 51-bottle wine fridge is available for around 799 USD on Amazon and other webshops. The manufacturer’s warranty is 3 years on the compressor and 1 year on parts and labor.

TIP: Read more deatils on the Colzer 51-bottle wine refrigerator in our review post.

N’FINITY 50-bottle Wine Cellar, Dual Zone (discontinued)

Update 2014: This model has been replaced by the N’FINITY PRO 46-bottle model.

The N’FINITY 50-bottle wine cellar is an attractive and sturdy medium size wine cooler with two distinct temperature zones.

The unit has black cabinet with black interior.

The tempered and slightly tinted door glass has stainless steel frame and stainless steel curved handle. The door opening can be reversed.

It comes with lock & key set (2 keys are included). All units are compressor based with fan air circulation.

Features Overview

• Capacity: cc. 50 bottles, top zone: 28, bottom zone: 22bottles
• Design:
  • Cabinet color: black cabinet with black interior, black front grille
  • Door: stainless steel-trimmed, tempered and tinted glass door with curved stainless steel bar handle, reversible hinging, lock & key set
• Cooling method: compressor, auto defrost
• Number of zones: two temperature zones
• Built-in/Freestanding: both, front ventilation
• Temperature Control:
  • Thermostat (Mechanical/Digital): adjustable digital thermostat
  • Temperature Range:
    • upper zone: 41°F – 60°F (5°C – 15.5°C),
    • lower zone: 45°F – 64°F (7°C – 17.7°C) (+/- 2°F/).
  • Ambient temp. range: 32°F – 100°F
• Shelving: 5 glide-out hardwood shelves with ball-bearing roller assembly, spaced to accommodate 50 bottles of Bordeaux (standard) size and larger bottles, including Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Champagne.
• Humidity level: 60%
• Noise: no data – loud according some users
• Electricity consumption: 140 Watt
• Dimensions (H x W x D): 34.5″ x 23.75″ x 26″ with handle, 24″ without handle)
• Weight: 113 pounds.
• Price range: US$ 900 – 1000 without shipping (US$ 18 – 20/bottle).
• Warranty: 90 Day Parts & Labor In Home Warranty with a Free Upgrade to 1 Year on Parts & Labor

Control Panel

The digital control panel is integrated in the zone partition. The panel includes the following features:

• On/Off for turning on/off the wine cellar,
• Temp. Set Upper Zone: Adjusts and displays, via LED, the desired temperature (°F) of the upper zone.
• Temp. Set Lower Zone: Adjusts and displays, via LED, the desired temperature (°F) of the lower zone.
• Light – for turning on or off the interior illumination
• Red, White, Sparkling,
• Select (upper or lower) – allows you to select to control either the upper zone or the lower zone.

Pros & Cons

Pros:

• attractive,
• quiet,
• maintains temperature with 1-2 degree of fluctuation,
• fits different sized bottles

Cons:

• “The bottles do not fit in the racks the way the manual says they should”,
• loud (especially when used as freestanding)
• loud see user complaints

Setting the Temperature

Note: In order to maintain optimum operation the lower compartment should be set to minimum 4 degrees higher than the upper compartment.

Make sure the cabinet is properly connected to power according to the manual.

Press “On” to turn on the cellar.

Press the “Select” button to choose the Upper or Lower Zone

Set the desired temp. for the upper/lower zone by pressing the + (Up) and – (Down) buttons. The upper zone can be set between 41°F and 60°F (factory preset is 41°F), while the lower zone’s temp. range is 45°F – 64°F (factory preset 45°F).

• If you set the Upper or Lower zone between 52°F – 64°F, the LED light next to “RED” will light up, indicating that you are within the recommended range for serving Red Wines.
• If you set the Upper or Lower zone between 44°F – 51°F, the LED light next to “WHITE” will light up, indicating that you are within the recommended range for serving White Wines.
• If you set the Upper or Lower Zone between 41°F – 43°F, the LED light next to “SPARKLING” will light up, indicating that you are within the recommended range for serving Sparkling Wines.

In case of a power outage, all previous temperature settings will be automatically saved and each compartment will return to the previous temperature setting, a useful feature that many wine coolers lack.

Shelving

5 sturdy hardwood shelves (2 in the upper compartment, 3 in the lower one), that smoothly glide on ball-bearing tracks, hold the wine bottles.

The spacing is wide enough to fit larger size bottles (Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Champagne).

• Lower Zone Shelves: each shelf holds one row of 8 bottles (4 in the front, 4 in the back) the half shelf on the bottom holds 6 bottles (3 in the front, 3 in the back).
• Upper Zone Shelves: each shelf can hold one row of 8 and a second row of 6 bottles for a total of 14 bottles.

Interior Light

Three blue LED lights provide low-intensity illumination for the cabinet interior. The On/Off switch is on the control panel.

Placement

The N’FINITY PRO wine cellars vent in the front so they can either be used as built-in or as freestanding.

User Reviews

Strengths, Weaknesses, Complaints Reported by Owners

The N’FINITY 50-bottle wine cooler received fairly good reviews. The most important strengths mentioned by users include:

• attractive design,
• quiet operation,
• well-built appliance, and
• it cost half the price of a EuroCave wine cellar of same size.

It is interesting though that despite the manufaturer’s attempt to make a wine cabinet that accommodates bottles of various sizes, several owners mentioned that it is hard to stack wines in different size/shape bottles on the shelves (longer, slimmer bottles are difficult to fit in). According to some users it holds 40 bottles rather than 50 due to the shelving.

Other complaints are related to noise problems, although it might have to do with improper placement, because some owners on the other hand say that it is quiet. The unit does cycle often when first turned on until it reaches the set temperature but it holds the temperature well.

There’s one serious complaint reported by a user: he’s gone through 3 of these units: according to him the N’FINITY 50 wine cooler is very loud and the temperature fluctuates too much (possibly got ruined his wines).

Wine Enthusiast wasn’t helpful to provide any help. Finally he got the first unit replaced but it was damaged (broken shelves, scratches) and it was way too noisy.

Customer service of WE wasn’t helpful this time either. After several trials of contacting them he managed to talk to someone and got another replacement but without refund becuse it was past 30 days.

N’FINITY 50-Bottle Wine Cellar Review & Rating

Rating (1- 5 stars):

Similar Home Wine Storage Units

• The Best 40-50-Bottle Wine Refrigerators – recommended medium capacity home wine cellars.
• The EdgeStar 46-Bottle 2-Zone Wine Refrigerator has almost the same features and look as the N’finity 50-bottle unit.
• Jenn-Air Wine Refrigerator – an expensive 46-bottle stainless steel wine cooler with mechanical thermostat.
• U-Line Echelon Series 2-Zone Wine Cellars – 43 bottle undercounter units with two independent temp. zones.
• Kitchenaid Wine Coolers – are exactly the same as the Jenn-Air units. Models with right hand or left hand door swing are available.
• Avanti WCR5104DZD 46-bottle Wine Refrigerator – an affordable dual temperature zone unit with 5 wood shelves.
• Summit SWC530LBI Wine Cooler – dual zone, stores 46 bottles on 6 slide-out wood shelves.
• Magic Chef 44-botle Dual Zone Wine Cooler – a cheap, functional wine refrigerator with 2 independently controlled zones.

N’FINITY 170-bottle Dual-Zone Wine Cellar (discontinued)

The N’Finity 170 is no doubt one of the best low-cost wine storage units in the under US$ 2000 category. Although it is no longer manufactured, the unit is still available at some retailers.

Key Features:

• two independent temp. zones:

• Upper Zone: 41°F – 60°F (+/- 2°F)
• Lower Zone: 45°F – 64°F (+/- 2°F)
• black cabinet with stainless steel trimmed door glass (dual pane, tinted for UV protection),
• curved metal grip handle
• security lock & key
• 15 slide-out hardwood shelves
• 7 blue LED interior lights
• built-in or freestanding placement
• central digital control panel with digital display (middle of the cabinet)

Dimensions:

• H: 72″
• W: 23-3/4″
• D (without handle): 27

Weight: 287 lbs.

Price: cc. US$ 1 800.

Warranty:

• 90 Day Parts & Labor In Home Warranty with a Free Upgrade to 1 year on Parts & Labor

TIP: See how the N’Finity 170 compares to two other 150+ Bottle wine cooler refrigerators.

Other N’FINITY Models

• N’FINITY 23-Bottle Wine Cooler – a small dual-zone unit with hardwood shelving.
• N’FINITY 121-Bottle Wine Cabinet – very much similar to the 170-bottle model.
• N’FINITY 340-Bottle Wine Cellar – two N’FINITY 170 models bolted together side by side.

Read our main article about Wine Enthusiast Wine Coolers.

Related Articles

• Under-the-Counter Wine Coolers – 24″ wide wine cellars designed for built-in use under the kitchen counter.
• Stainless Steel Wine Refrigerators – sleek home cellars in various sizes.