Allavino VSWR56-2BWRN Wine Refrigerator

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1. Anonymous Verified Buyer – 16 July 2024

   I’ve had no real complaints with the fridge. The shipper worked with me on dates and times for delivery. The unit arrived without any damages and set up easily. I have not had any issues with it. I disagree with other reviewers that state it is noisy. Mine is level and thus the bottles do not touch nor rattle. It cycles on and off to maintain temperature and is slightly noisier (inside fan) than my Samsung appliances, but it is much quieter than the appliances many of us know from just 10+ years ago. Ignore the noise complaints of others on here.
   My only frustration with the unit is that I drink a considerable amount of champagne and this does not accommodate most of the bottles. The top shelf can accommodate some, but not many (especially those in a wider design ala Ruinart). But otherwise it’s been great.
   

2. Cardinal Verified Buyer – 5 October 2024

   We bought this unit because it was attractive and was supposed to be a higher end unit. It actually worked for about 3 years, which is longer than many other people have reported. It always reads 64 degrees, although checking with a separate thermometer puts the temperature in the mid seventies. The compressor runs, but there is no cooling. My college mini fridge ran for 15 years, and cost about a tenth of what this one does. Don’t waste your money!
   

3. MICHAEL A DERBY Verified Buyer – 13 January 2025

   The Good: An attractive unit that held temperatures well for a couple of years.

   The Bad: The shelves were just a bit too close together for Chardonnay and other fat bottles (you’ll either need to remove a shelf [cutting capacity] or put up with the shelves scraping the labels off).

   The Ugly: It died after less than 4 years. It’s no good as a wine cooler, but might make an attractive end table.

   Recommendation: ABSOLUTELY NOT, and I am not alone. Check the current ratings (and remember that they are an average of people who gave it high ratings right after they purchased it several years ago and those who have more recently rated it after living with it awhile – the actual rating from people who have owned it for awhile will be very, very low!).

   This was my second wine refrigerator. The first was a 15″ unit to fit in the space left by a trash compacter. That unit (an EdgeStar 30 Bottle Unit) lasted a couple of years until just before I moved when it started losing its refrigerant. The copper tubing appeared to develop pinholes where the coolant escaped and left white deposits on the surrounding tubing and casing. At the time, I decided it was just a bad unit and so, when I moved, I bought this 24″ unit (Allavino VSWR56-2SSLN Wine Refrigerator), which at the time had VERY good reviews. It did hold its temperature well during the first 2 years, but then began started to lose the ability to hold a 10-degree temperature difference between the top and bottom compartments. After 3½ years, it doesn’t cool at all: the temperature starts at 64°F in both compartments and remains at 64°F in both compartments after 24 hours (which is a little strange, since it is at room temperature, which is around 76°F). [see video showing set points and actual temperature after 24 hours]

   When contacted, the company recommended to “reset” the electronic controls (unplug it for an hour and then plug it back in), but that had no effect. Their conclusion was that the compressor was dead. The warranty does cover a replacement compressor for up to 5 years, but you are responsible for shipping and must send them proof from a service shop that the compressor is no longer working before they will send a replacement. On top of that, it is difficult to find repair shops that will work on these units and, of those that will, repair costs are estimated to be close to replacement value. The repair shop I contacted concluded that the compressor may or may not be bad, but that it had lost its refrigerant, probably though leaks within the condenser or evaporator coils. They also noted that it is a sealed system and (in this area, at least), only commercial repair shops will touch them. Repair costs would include all necessary parts plus the labor to rebuild the entire unit — hence the high cost.
   

4. John Michael Head Verified Buyer – 25 February 2025

   Purchased in JUN 2016 and stopped cooling in JUL 2023. Display indicates 64 degrees as if cooling, but when a thermometer was placed inside the unit it registers at room temperate and not 64 degrees. The fan is turning but not cooling. It work great up until recently, now it is junk and I will need to replace it, not to mention putting the wine stored inside a jeoardy.

   

5. R. Spradley Verified Buyer – 11 April 2025

   We just wanted to keep the wine at a stable cool temperature, we weren’t as concerned about the two different temperature areas, but were looking for reasonably priced capacity. The height between the levels is just barely able to handle most of our red wines, and we definitely cannot layer them to fit 9 for every single layer. I was able to get one level to do 9, the rest are more like 7-8 because of the way the wood bottle supports are carved. We have a variety of red wines, all 750mL, many have the slightly wider diameter near the top of the body of the bottle, and it just doesn’t leave enough room. Also, the bottom layer cannot handle long-necked bottles, so your nice long dessert wines or sweeter / riesling bottle types will not fit on the bottom level, though average sparkling wine bottles will. If you have a lot of the more standard sized bottle they will just barely all fit, but if you have any that are slightly wider it will throw the level off. Probably would have picked a different one if we’d known, since capacity was higher priority, but at this point it stores fairly stable, the lock is a nice touch and the curved handle design is a nice touch.