Our reds are too warm and our whites are too cold

The day will inevitably come when wine is taking up so much room in your refrigerator that you'll have to decide between whether to store that next bottle, or your quart of milk. When that day comes, it may be time to investigate giving your wine a special home of its own inside a wine fridge.

After a successful trip to several wineries in the Santa Cruz mountains this weekend (including Ridge! A must see/taste!) I returned with too many bottles and decided it was finally time to invest in a wine fridge myself.

Here's what I found out about them:

1. Size matters. The size of your apartment, that is. These things can be pretty bulky - and typically they are quoted as holding between 18 and several hundred bottles. For our standard living arrangements here in Palo Alto, you should probably look at the smaller end fridges, of between 18 - 50 bottles.

2. Dual Zone fridges aren't totally real for small wine fridges. The idea between dual vs. single zone fridges is for the wine lover who wants to store their reds and whites at different temperatures (vs. sometimes only storing one type of wine). But, when it comes down to the smaller fridges (<50 bottles), the temperature is actually really difficult to control in separate compartments. Vinepair.com spot tested several dual zone fridges and found that the temperature was actually consistent throughout. So, if you're looking to save some money, you could go for the smaller single zone fridge until you have bigger space to upgrade. Just set it to 60, a relatively good temp for both reds and whites.

3. Cost? Typically in the low to mid hundreds for the smaller sized fridges. Expect them to last only a few years.

4. System: Thermoelectric vs Compressor. Thermoelectric is the silent one...and tends to be more expensive...but apparently doesn't actually cool the bottles very well. Compressor fridges are louder (they sound like a regular mini fridge) but almost all sites I visited preferred them. I still opted for thermoeletric, but I'm a sucker for silence.

Mine arrives tomorrow, so if your'e in the market you're welcome to come check it out!