Anyone writing a wine blog will tell you, we’re doing it for the love, not the money. The rewards, other than personal satisfaction, are few and far between, at this point in time.

Advertising on a blog, for instance, Google ads, aren’t going to put your kids through college any time soon. ($100 a year from Google ads is the going rate for traffic currently from this blog.)

So then, what really drives us?

Our passion for wine, for writing, and for sharing…

And, every now and then, the universe taps us on the shoulder and says, “Do you want something to make your life more intriguing? It will be a product to review and maybe (if you like it) you’ll write about it. In the process, maybe it will turn your readers onto an aspect of the wine world that they’ve not yet considered… Or maybe they have, but not crossed over from having a dream to creating their own reality?”

That just happened to me, just before leaving for Maine a couple of weeks ago; so I said, “Yes, I’d love to be part of this, but I’m headed out the door, so I’ll attend to it all right after I get back.”

My query came from Stephanie Schoch of Air & Water, Inc. She wanted to know, “Would you be interested in reviewing the NewAir AW-210ED thermoelectric wine cooler?”

Pinch me…

This is something that Jose has long wanted, but we’ve never slowed down long enough to make it happen… And shame on us, being in the wine business for the last 18 years. Of course this was something I was really interested in, and even though we were headed out the door for New England, the cooler arrived the day before I left.

I had told Jose that he could enjoy the cooler, because he’s been my IT guy, Webmaster/creator for the last four and a half years… at my beck and call… and has earned it for his love and devotion. It all sounded great, until I unpacked it. I immediately clear the space, plugged it in, and filled it up with wines that I thought were worthy… including all whites that we have, because they’re short lived around here, versus the reds that are collecting dust.

Even though this NewAir AW-210ED thermoelectric wine cooler has two areas for controlling separate temperatures, I set them both at 55 degrees. I’ve long known that wine caves hover at this temperature.

Meanwhile, Jose was asking me, “If you have two separate settings, why would you not use them both with different degrees?”

I wasn’t going to have any of that for now. We were headed to Boston and Maine, and I’d deal with it on our return… And, return we did. Now, I had to give him a better answer… most especially since he had sent two links for me to read.

1. Storage Temperature & Aging
2. Best temperature to serve wine

I took the time to read each one. The one on storage reiterated what I had told Jose… 55 degrees was perfect. The second one, however, made me see his point. It listed different varieties and they had more of a sliding scale for what would taste great at their best temperatures.

So, I gave in and let him restock what was in the 21 bottle cooler, allowing all my whites to stay, and the reds became not the ones that will be tasted years from now, but ones that he would be tasting in the near future (a bit higher temp). If it were my preference, I’d do it the way I had had it, with the wines I wanted to save for the next 20 years. Considering the absolute devotion that Jose has given to me with all things related to my blog, however, compromise was the better route.

How do we love this new wine cooler, that we’re now more than trying out?

We’re totally enjoying it! I feel so fortunate that my wine blog was even considered as a resource for this wonderful wine cooler trial offer. It’s a great reward from Air & Water, Inc. (and the universe) for all of the time I’ve spent writing about my passion… wine… and now how to best store it.

Best features of this model:

• One of Air & Water, Inc.’s  most highly rated wine coolers
• Sleek aesthetic
• Features a silent thermoelectric cooling system
• Has two independently refrigerated chambers, each with a separate temperature control
• Optimal temperature for two types of wine
• Holds 21 bottles
• The depth of this little refrigerator is long enough to not have Riesling style bottles hitting the glass
• White wines are at a prefect temperature, versus being over chilled in a refrigerator
• Brings couples more closely together

I photographed our NewAir AW-210ED thermoelectric wine cooler, right after unpacking it… And I tweeted it, saying, “Barrel’s full o’corks, cooler ‘s full o’wine. When’s the party? Thanks to Air-n-Water cooler.” It’s the image above…

[Yes, that barrel is full of corks, if you wonder if that’s really true. It helps to have worked in wine tasting rooms over the years, and poured at lots of events.]

Here’s to wine coolers… May you also have one in your future. This one’s retail value is $220.00, on sale. It’s a great price, and we’re loving it!

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