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A cool glass of white wine, anyone?

Few appliances say 'dream kitchen' quite like a wine cooler. Not only do these specially designed wine fridges keep your bottles safe and ready to enjoy, but they also make an incredibly stylish addition to your set-up.

If you're looking into a kitchen refresh in time for summer – whether that's a light upgrade or a complete rehaul – we put a range of wine coolers to the test to bring you the best on the market.

Even a budget wine cooler is still an investment, so it's important to have as much information as possible. These are the factors we'd keep in mind when shopping for one:

This one is pretty self-explanatory; the best size for you depends on how much wine you're looking to store, and how much space you have for a cooler. The larger the capacity, the larger the appliance.

The models on our list range from a 21-bottle capacity – perfect for a first-time wine cooler owner – to a 117-bottle capacity that's ideal for a seasoned wine collector.

This is where home improvement plans come into play. Freestanding wine coolers are the more versatile of the two; all it takes to get one up and running is a space to place it and a plug socket.

Built-in models may require a tad more work as they are integrated into your kitchen, becoming part of your kitchen set-up alongside regular fridges, dishwashers and the like. Pick this type if you're renovating your kitchen or you've got a spare cupboard that you want to replace.

Different wines need to be stored at different temperatures, which is why many wine coolers come with multiple temperature zones. If you're looking to store some reds alongside wines, you'll need a dual-zone cooler; whereas if you're strictly looking to serve a cool white all summer long, a single-zone cooler will do you nicely.

Temperature stability is perhaps the most important consideration for a wine cooler, because too much fluctuation can end up affecting your wines' quality. To check these products' performance on that front, we record the temperature within each fridge and temperature zone over two hours, 24 hours and 48 hours to check for any fluctuation.

We also measure how quickly the fridges return to their set temperature after leaving them open for two minutes, and how much energy each one consumes over 48 hours.

Lastly, we consider ease of use, instructions and design elements that made these products stand out.

Here are the wine coolers we'll be saying cheers too...

You get what you pay for with this offering from Bosch. With a 44-bottle capacity, this mid-sized, dual-zone wine cooler performed exceptionally well on test, averaging a commendable 0.8-degree temperature fluctuation over 24 hours, meaning you can definitely trust it with your finest bottles.

Energy-wise, this appliance consumed less than all other dual-zone wine coolers we tested, making it a more eco-friendly and economical pick in the long run too. It also featured very intuitive controls, an easy-to-read display, and stable shelves.

On the other end of the spectrum, here’s a wine cooler that’s ideal for small spaces. The shelves were notably secure on test, although they can’t be adjusted to different positions and you would need to remove them in order to fit the 21 bottles advertised.

This fridge performed well on temperature stability, staying nicely within the set temp over 24 hours. It heated up a tad after being left open, but it recovered so fast that this wouldn’t affect your wines in a real-life scenario. It's not the cheapest, but overall we did find it an energy-efficient design with intuitive controls.

With its simple design and no-fuss features, this product is perfect for a first-time wine cooler owner who doesn’t need state-of-the-art features. It’s well priced compared to other dual-zone coolers, and generally very easy to use – although removing the shelves takes practice.

It has a reversible door and is compact enough to fit under a counter, despite accommodating an impressive 46 bottles. Its temperature stability was changeable but it only heated up by 1.3 degrees on average after being left open for a couple minutes, and recovered in just over three minutes. It was also fairly energy-efficient, which is a definite plus.

This single-zone wine cooler’s smart connectivity makes it ideal for regular party hosts. You can control its temperature settings directly from the hOn app, as well as logging in the wines you have, so you can keep track from a distance. Based on your wine inventory (it holds up to 49 bottles, by the way), the app will suggest both an ideal temperature setting and wine pairings for the dishes you’re serving.

The sleek design is thoughtful too; it boasts an easily reversible door and shelves fitted with end-stops to prevent bottles from falling. Its temperature also proved incredibly stable, only rising by an average 0.5 degrees over 24 hours. It’s the perfect smart addition.

With its 24-bottle capacity and high performance, this wine cooler is just right if you enjoy a good-quality bottle from time to time, but don’t need to store too many at once. It will fit snugly in any space and was a stand-out for energy efficiency on test. It stayed within its set temperature over 24 hours, and recovered quickly from an open door.

Like the Haier, you can control this cooler via the hOn app. Its shelves felt stable, the controls were intuitive (though placed somewhat awkwardly inside the unit), and we loved the chic design, too. Another great find.

Proof that you don’t have to break the bank for a decent wine cooler, this single-zone model by Russell Hobbs surprised us with its great temperature stability. It only budged by a fairly insignificant 0.2 degrees over 24 hours. You don’t have to worry about your wines being affected by opening either – it stabilised well.

Fill it with 24 wine bottles, or you can use it to store other beverages should you prefer. Its wire racks were secure and easy to clean. Unfortunately, the dedicated wine rack didn't seem as secure as the standard shelves and the dial placement can make setting the temperature tricky. On the bright side, this cooler features an easily reversible door and a streamlined design.

This dual-zone wine cooler demonstrated the best temperature stability over 24 hours of any wine cooler we tested, which is quite a feat. The lower zone also remained at exactly the correct temperature after we opened the fridge for two minutes, but the upper zone was impacted and took a while to recover.

Other than that, this one was compact despite fitting an admirable 46 bottles which are all firmly secure thanks to end stops on the shelves. The reversible door and responsive controls also combine to make it a great entry-level buy, as it were.

A freestanding cooler with room for 117 bottles, this good-looking appliance is worth making space for if you're a wine enthusiast or frequent party host. Despite its size, it didn’t consume much energy on test and is relatively affordable when compared with similarly large products.

This explains its somewhat changeable temperature stability, heating up by an average of 1.5 degrees over 24 hours. It recovered to the correct temperature quickly after being left open for two minutes – in just six and a half minutes. We also liked the intuitive controls, the many lighting modes, the reversible door and the stable shelves.