I bought this Liebherr WKB 4612 "Barrique" fridge a month ago, and factoring in delivery times, I've actually had it a little less than a month. So far, there has been absolutely no problem with the fridge itself. I was short one shelf on delivery, but that was quickly and easily remedied with a quick phone call. Two days later, the shelf was delivered from the Australian distributor.I'm not a wine drinker, but a cheese maker. So I have a slightly different view on the fridge overall, but I'll try to make this review as useful as possible to wine drinkers too."Why a wine fridge?" and "what's wrong with my everyday fridge?" (These are the most common question I have been asked since getting one).In the old days, wines and cheeses were stored in cellars and ... MoreI bought this Liebherr WKB 4612 "Barrique" fridge a month ago, and factoring in delivery times, I've actually had it a little less than a month. So far, there has been absolutely no problem with the fridge itself. I was short one shelf on delivery, but that was quickly and easily remedied with a quick phone call. Two days later, the shelf was delivered from the Australian distributor.I'm not a wine drinker, but a cheese maker. So I have a slightly different view on the fridge overall, but I'll try to make this review as useful as possible to wine drinkers too."Why a wine fridge?" and "what's wrong with my everyday fridge?" (These are the most common question I have been asked since getting one).In the old days, wines and cheeses were stored in cellars and caves. Most people don't have access to a cheese cave or wine cellar, so a fridge is the next best thing.Temperature control is key:Ageing and storing cheese (like wine) long term, is not best done at the usual home refrigerator temperatures of 3-5 degrees Celsius. White wines needs 7-12, red wines need 12-18 degrees, and many cheeses need 10-12. So you need a fridge with a bigger range, and adjustable temperature setting.Humidity control is just as important:Humidity is also a big thing for cheese and wine. Many cheeses need a high humidity to age properly. Most household fridges are (by design) very dry to stop mould from growing. Sure this keeps food from spoiling, but for wine lovers, this means corks dry out and crack... or dry out and shrink. Either case can break the seal and spoil your wine by allowing oxygen in. Cheese makers will know that low humidity can impair rind development (especially white mould rinded cheese like Brie or Camembert), crack harder cheeses and encourage "less desirable" mould/bacteria to grow by hindering the desirable kinds.As such, wine fridges are more suitable because they are designed to maintain a humidity level of at least 50%. Note: while 50% humidity is good for wine corks, it may still be too low for some cheeses but that is remedied with a bowl of water/humidifier in the bottom of the fridge. In either case, a wine fridge is a LONG way ahead of a typical fridge for these purposes.Ok, back to this fridge model specifically...The Liebherr WKB-4612 "Barrique" fridge is a single zone fridge. This means that it holds one temperature throughout the fridge. There are wine fridges which can maintain two or even three different temperatures in different "zones" at once, but they are often more expensive than buying multiple single-zone fridges. When wine fridges typically cost more than normal fridges to begin with, I'm not kidding when I say the prices are higher. I have seen a three zone fridge going for $8000-$10000 Australian dollars. That's not even a custom or commercial grade offering. Back to more rational price ranges...The fridge officially stores 195 bottles, but like all wine fridge manufacturers, that piece of marketing is inflated by the fact that they use the smallest "standard" bottles they can find. 195 bottles is only achievable if you use nothing but the skinnier "bordeaux" bottles. Unfortunately, many bottles in Australia (despite having the same 750ml capacity) are wider and/or taller, which means I'd honestly peg the maximum capacity to be somewhere between 150-160 bottles. Obviously if you drink a lot of Champagne, and like Magnum-sized bottles, you'll get less. In any case, it's still a lot of wine.The WKB 4612 comes with 6 "beech wood" shelves. The wooden shelves claim to absorb some of the vibrations which might somehow be bad for wine, but I just think wood shelves look really nice with my cheeses on it, and I'm sure wine bottles look better on wooden shelves too. Which when you might be aging a nice parmesan-styled cheese for 2-3 years in your kitchen/living room, aesthetics actually become important. Liebherr also includes label clips for each shelf so you can put appropriate information wherever you see fit.Why the door is amazing:The ultraviolet light-blocking (tinted) glass door of this fridge is one of the best features for a cheese maker. It reminds me to tend to my cheeses, and I can see if there are any problems without having to constantly open the door. The light can be manually activated from the outside without opening the door as well, so I can stare lovingly (or hungrily) at my cheeses without causing any temperature fluctuations. Wine lovers will like choosing paired wines, carefully considered for minutes (potentially hours) without opening the door too... or simply use the glass door and light for showing off their collection. :-)The fridge door is reversible. The hinge is located on the right by default, (which suits me fine) but you can hinge the door on the left if you prefer. Liebherr provides all the parts needed to do that. Note that I said parts, not tools. You'll need some to make the change.The door is also lockable so you can keep children or untrustworthy relatives away from your finer wines/cheeses. It also has an alarm if the door is left open for too long. If you're spending a lot of time re-stocking, re-arranging, or "withdrawing" bottles (or cheese), you might want to switch that alarm off while you're doing all that.How about noise?I read other reviews online before purchasing, and some other people complained that their fridge was a bit noisy. I can't say that I've noticed this fridge much at all. It's actually more quiet than our standard kitchen fridge. I listen to quiet music regularly, and despite the wine fridge being in the same open-planned kitchen/living room area as my stereo, I have no complaints. Naturally, I can hear the compressor working, but it's not particularly noticeable or distracting. If you need absolute silence, then I'd suggest staying away from any fridge.Ease of use/operation:Ok, so you might feel that this fridge is perhaps impressive or daunting. But it's not hard to use at all. You have 5 buttons, and from left to right:Button 1. Increases the set temperature (If no buttons are pushed for a while, the temperature display will revert to the current temperature inside the fridge, NOT the set point).Button 2. Decreases the set temperature.Button 3. Turns the fridge on or off. (Hold for 3 seconds)Button 4. Turns the light on or off without opening the door.Button 5. Enables/Disable the alarm.The most tricky thing... holding both buttons 4 and 5 down simultaneously until the fan logo turns on (or off). This activates the higher humidity function. (Important for corked bottles and cheese makers).Value for money:This is a tricky one. Your mileage may vary significantly from mine, and what you consider a reasonable cost, and of course, your priorities.Honestly, after much thought, if I compare the costs of a wine fridge to that of a standard household fridge, it's easy to view the wine fridge as expensive and a "luxury" item (who can deny the luxury, really?). However, some of that extra cost goes into the more expensive features like:1. Tinted, and multi-glazed glass door,2. A more precise and wildly more adjustable thermostat with display,3. The increased humidity feature, and4. The "fancy" wood shelves. NOTE: I was honestly surprised that one new shelf for this fridge cost over $100 delivered. So getting six of them included (in ideal circumstances) isn't so bad at all. That's actually more shelves than typically is included in other brands of fridges this size.For a cheese maker, a wine fridge is a great investment. But it is truly an investment, as a fridge this size it will be ageing hundreds if not thousands of dollars worth of cheese if filled to capacity. You need to be serious about your wine and/or cheese hobby in order to justify the costs here.Note that if you buy and drink your wine without much time between, then you don't need a wine fridge. This is more for longer term storage, or if you're storing expensive wines. Having said that, my cheeses (and token bottles of wine) have never looked better. :-)(I'd send a picture or two but this system doesn't like me at all).I hope this review is helpful, and I wish you good luck with your wine fridge search!Hamish.

I looked at the Vintec models but just couldn't justify paying for a brand name. I was so pleasantly surprised when my Liebherr Barrique arrived. It is incredibly quiet - I have to listen very hard to hear it running. The Temp is accurate (Ive checked it with a temperature logger) and the ED lighting is fabulous. I filled my fridge with 178 bottles (stacked head to toe) including about 10 magnums - the 195 bottle estimate is only accurate if you store burgundy style bottles but that was not an issue. Very happy with the product and the Winnings service and delivery !

I needed a dedicated wine fridge cellar to cater for my Champagne collection. Because the bottles are wide there aren't many fridges that can cater for this type without stacking bottles very high. I found this fridge to be great as I only need to stack the bottles 2 high which makes for ease of access. I can also buy additional shelves and adjust shelf height. The fridge is very stylish in the room and super quiet. I like the amount of light generated from the side strip. I placed a thermometer inside the fridge to test the consistency and accuracy of temperature and it is performing well.