If you are a wine lover or an amateur collector, you must invest in a good wine cooler. The definition of a "good" wine cooler however, varies from person to person. The best cooler for you would be one that meets your specific needs. The following are some basic guidelines which will help you make the right choice.
Check if the storage capacity of the cooler meets your needs. For instance if you do not intend to store more than 4 bottles of wine at a time buying a 15 bottle wine cooler will be of no use to you.
If you are amateur make sure your cooler comes with pre-set temperature controls. Connoisseurs on the other hand can consider investing in a wine cooler with a twin cooling system. Such coolers have two sections with independent cooling systems i.e. you can set different temperatures in the same cooler for different types of wine.
You must also make sure that your wine cooler has an auto defrost feature, this will prevent frost from building up on your bottles.
Before deciding on the look of the cooler, figure out where you would be placing it. If you plan to keep it in your kitchen or a particular room in your house, make sure the cooler goes well with the room's over all look and color scheme. However, if you intend to keep the cooler in your basement, you can be more experimental with its look.
All wine coolers and chillers make a certain degree of noise. While the noise may not cause much disturbance if you intend to place it in your kitchen or basement, however, if you plan to place it in close to your bedroom you may consider buying a cooler that runs quietly.
Finally, make sure that the cooler is energy efficient. Coolers with an A rating are the most efficient and those with G rating consume relatively more energy.