Last fall I introduced you to the Liebherr range of refrigerators, and more specifically, the Liebherr 48″ SBS 246 that I chose as part of my kitchen renovation. It’s been a year since I first took delivery of the Liebherr, and after living with it day in and day out for a year, I wanted to post a follow up review for anyone in the market for a new refrigerator or anyone considering the Liebherr brand.

Liebherr SBS 246 48″ Refrigerator

Liebherr, if you’re new to the company, is a brand well-known for their expertise in the construction industry. But when it comes to refrigeration, Liebherr has over 50 years of experience as well, easily ranking them as one of the leading experts when it comes to refrigeration technology. But as great as their history is, chances are if you’re considering a new refrigerator, your biggest question is how well do Liebherr refrigerators perform in the real world?

For me, the answer is a simple one: it’s been perfect. I chose my Liebherr fridge really for two key reasons – its design and its functionality – and in both areas the Liebherr has continued to impress. Firstly, let’s look at the design.

If you remember from my last article, one of the things that makes the Liebherr lineup of refrigerators unique is that they’re very modular compared to other brands. My refrigerator – the 48″ SBS 246 – is actually two separate 24-inch units. On the right is the refrigerator, and on the left unit the top is a wine cooler while the bottom is a freezer. For my installation I chose to install the two together, with a single trim installation kit, but I just as easily could have split the two units up and installed them separately. The same is true for Liebherr’s other 48″ and 60″ models. You can install them together as a single unit, or you can split them up, which offers up a whole new world of design flexibility when planning a new kitchen.

Liebherr SBS 246 48″ Refrigerator

In addition to their arrangement options, another great design element is Liebherr’s fully integrated refrigerator offerings. If you want ample refrigeration space without the look of a giant refrigerator, Liebherr offers numerous sizing options ranging from 24″ – 48″, letting you customize the face of the refrigerator with panels that match your kitchen cabinetry. If you’re not a fan of the stainless steel look, it’s a great design option.

From a design standpoint, I have to say that I still love the look of my Liebherr SBS 246. It’s a very straightforward, understated design, with the right side offering a simple and clean stainless steel design and the left noting a subtle glass door for the wine cooler. I wanted my kitchen to be comfortable and livable, and the Liebherr’s design fits into that aesthetic, as it handsome and upscale without being pretentious or too techy, perfect for a family with three kids.

The second key area why I chose the Liebherr was for its functionality, primarily the large main fridge with separate wine cooler and freezer. For the fridge portion, I have to say I love the design. It’s roomy enough to fit everything I need, the shelves in the door do a great job holding milk and larger drink containers, and the shelving is completely customizable, letting you make any adjustments necessary to fit your desired food. After a few weeks living with the Liebherr, I was able to adjust my shelving in a way that consistently fits everything, and I haven’t had to touch them since, aside from special occasions (like needing to fit a birthday cake inside). The one caveat to a side-by-side design, however, is that if you find yourself consistently storing extra wide trays or pans, french door designs give additional space horizontally, so be sure to factor this into your purchase decision.

As for Liebherr’s BioFresh drawers, a system designed to extend the life of your fruits and vegetables, I’ve found the drawers work exceptionally well. In the past I had difficulty maintaining the freshness of various greens like lettuce, spinach and herbs, but the BioFresh drawers have done a great job extending their freshness (along with all my other fruits and veggies). Setting them is super simple: slide the drawer’s adjustment lever to the appropriate fruit or vegetable setting and you’re all set – your produce stays fresher, longer.

Liebherr BioFresh Drawers

On the other side of the SBS 246, the wine cooler and freezer have done a great job meeting my family’s needs as well. In addition to wine, we use the wine cooler to store numerous other drinks, which frees up additional space in the refrigerator. If you’re an avid wine drinker, the SBS 246 is a no brainer, as it can hold up to 34 bottles of wine at different temperatures – reds at 64 degrees and whites at 46 degrees. All temperature settings are handled via the SBS 246’s easy to use digital controls, allowing you to customize your desired temperatures, while a humidity control ensures optimum wine preservation conditions.

Underneath, the freezer has remained a steady performer, keeping everything frozen without freezer burn or icing up. One of the things I’ve come to love most about the SBS 246’s freezer is the drawers setup. Unlike other freezers where everything is tossed together, the Liebherr’s freezer drawers make it easy to keep your frozen food organized, meaning there’s far less chance of finding your Thanksgiving day leftovers from three years ago buried at the bottom of your freezer. As someone that loves being organized, I love the Liebherr’s freezer drawers.

Liebherr 48″ SBS 246 Refrigerator

Ultimately, what I have to say about my Liebherr SBS 246 is simple: it’s lived up to everything that led me to it in the first place. It looks great, food stays fresher longer, and it offers incredibly functional storage options. I can’t speak to its long term reliability, but after a year of use, I’ve yet to encounter a single issue with its performance, and it’s fit and finish are holding up beautifully, even with three kids.

So would I recommend Liebherr to other considering a new refrigerator? If your experience is anything like mine, then absolutely. It’s performed it duties beautifully, and its easily met my family of five’s refrigeration needs.  You can learn more about the Liebherr Refrigerators at the official Liebherr website.

If there’s one thing I’m passionate about, it’s food.  I love making it, I love serving it and most of all, I love eating it.  It’s this passion for food that’s the sole reason I decided to take on a massive kitchen remodel.  I wanted a space that was as beautiful as it was functional and one that was capable of handling the demands that a family of five has.

As an avid home chef, one of the benefits of modern technology is the ability to eat a huge variety of fruits and vegetables year round, regardless of season or geographical location. And a big part of this ability is due to of advancements in refrigeration. A quality refrigerator is capable of preserving fresh fruits and vegetables significantly longer than refrigerators in the past, meaning not only can you eat fresh fruits and veggies year round, they stay fresher longer once they’re in your home.

Liebherr 48″ Refrigerator SBS 246

At the forefront of this modern home refrigeration technology is a German brand that you may know as one of the world’s leading manufacturer of construction machinery.  Liebherr (in addition to their huge assortment of commercial equipment) has over 50 years of experience in cooling, and with their continued effort to develop new technology and responsible manufacturing techniques, they’ve also become the leader in premium refrigeration.  It’s easy to see why in my search for the perfect refrigeration solution for my kitchen remodel I chose Liebherr.  Gorgeously designed, solidly built and engineered to keep your foods fresh as long as possible, Liebherr mixes everything you want for your kitchen refrigeration in a single package.

When I started looking at Liebherr, the first thing that drew me to their refrigeration products is their modularity.  And what I mean by that is if you’re designing a kitchen and considering a larger fridge in 48 or 60-inch sizes, the Liebherr  is two separate free standing units.  They join together with a seamless installation kit, but should you decide on a different kitchen arrangement (with the two units separated and cabinets in between, for example), you have that option as well.  In short, you can combine any of Liebherr’s 24-inch or 30-inch models to create the refrigerator of your dreams.  Liebherr also offers a fantastic looking 36-inch model as well – perfect if you’re looking to upgrade your current 36-inch fridge or just favor a more conventional size.  Add in the fact you have the option of built-in, fully-integrated or free-standing units, and the sky is the limit when it comes to your kitchen design.

For my kitchen remodel, the model that was the ideal fit to both my design dreams and my functional needs was the 48″ SBS 246.  It’s a model that offers ample refrigeration space on one side and a glass front wine refrigerator and lower freezer on the other. As I mentioned before, our family is made up of five (very hungry) individuals – two of which are vegetarians and one that is an endurance athlete – but even with this wide range of food demands and space needed, the 24″ refrigeration unit is more than enough space to fit everything we need to get us through an entire week. For anyone that has had to limit their grocery shopping and go twice a week due to space issues, you know this is reason enough to upgrade your refrigerator.

Liebherr SBS 246 BioFresh Drawers

With fresh fruits and vegetables playing such a large role in our eating, Liebherr’s technology was the second key reason we opted for Liebherr over competing brands.  The company’s BioFresh system is a foodie’s dream come true, as it provides the ideal climate for any type of fresh food.  Not only do your fresh foods have a longer shelf life, but BioFresh also ensures that your foods retain their vitamins and minerals longer. Each BioFresh drawer is designed to keep its contents at not only their ideal temperature but also at the safest and most ideal humidity level. And because each drawer is independent of the others, it not only ensures the perfect preservation environment, it ensure that what’s in one drawer doesn’t affect what’s in another.

And speaking of freshness, it’s important to note that Liebherr refrigerators utilize separate cooling, meaning the refrigerator and freezer are two separate entities.  Whereas typical refrigerators share air between both compartments, Liebherr environments stay separate, keeping the air cleaner and your food tasting better.  Other superb features include SuperCool and SuperFrost, which are both incredibly easy ways to quickly cool or deep freeze your food.  Simply select either setting with the press of a button, and the refrigerator automatically supercools or deep freezes your food.  After a set period of time, the refrigerator automatically switches back to standard operation, so you never have to worry about over cooling or over freezing your food.

Liebherr SBS 246 Wine Storage

In my home, it’s common to entertain regularly on the weekends, and entertaining usually means going through numerous bottles of wine with friends and family. This affinity for wine made the Liebherr SBS 246’s upper wine cooler the perfect refrigeration option.  With enough space to hold 34 bottles of wine at different temperatures, the wine cooler keeps red wines ready to serve at exactly 64 degrees and whites slightly chillier at 46 degrees. The genius behind Liebherr’s wine storage is the ability to keep wines at these precise temperatures quickly and easily via the integrated digital controls, ensuring the perfect wine experience every time without the need to cool each bottle beforehand. If, unlike us, you store your wine for longer periods, reset your temperature to around 55 degrees and the Liebherr will do the rest, ensuring perfect strorage with humidity controls that will ensure ideal humidity conditions. For wine lovers, it’s the perfect fit in you kitchen.

On our SBS 246, directly below the wine refrigerator is the freezer, which for me was the most overlooked portion of the refrigerator (as my family thrives on fresh food). But while I may have initially overlooked the freezer portion, it is no less ingenious than the rest of the unit and something I’ve since come to love.  Just like the refrigerator, the freezer allows you the ability to design it around your food. It comes packed with large clear drawers that are perfect for packs of frozen food, allowing you to easily see everything and making the process of keeping your freezer organized that much easier. If  you have larger items, like a Thanksgiving turkey or a large boxed pizza, simply remove the drawers, adjust the shelving heights and slide your bigger foods right in. There’s also a FrostSafe system that prevents ice from building up regardless of the temperature you keep it at.  Add it all together, and the freezer portion is the perfect finishing storage option to an already perfect refrigerator.

I’m going to be showing you the 48-inch Liebherr SBS 246 in my own kitchen in a separate article, but if you’re in the market for a new refrigerator now, you absolutely must check out the Liebherr range.  I absolutely love mine, and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Liebherr to anyone else either building or upgrading to the kitchen of their dreams.  You can see the full Liebherr range at the official Liebherr website, including the SBS 246 model I chose.

Last month I told you about the Electrolux Beverage Center, which offers a unique way to store not only your favorite beverages, but also a variety of foods and serving platters.  And while the Electrolux Beverage Center does offer the ability to store wine, if you’re a wine enthusiast, there’s nothing better at keeping your wine perfectly ready to drink than a dedicated wine cooler.

Thankfully, in addition to their Beverage Center, Electrolux also offers a dedicated 24-inch under-counter Wine Cooler, offering a total capacity of 46 750ml bottles in Electrolux’s stunning stainless steel design.  The Wine Cooler’s design matches beautifully to that of the Beverage Center, which makes the pair an ideal addition to an in-home bar or outdoor kitchen, as they can be placed directly next to one another (and look great doing so) all while handling a variety of refrigeration needs.

So is the Electrolux Wine Cooler right for you?  If you’re an avid wine drinker, then the answer is absolutely yes.  Read on and I’ll tell you why.

Electrolux Under-Counter Wine Cooler Overview

Simply put, the Electrolux Wine Cooler holds 46-bottles of wine in a perfectly temperature controlled environment, ensuring your wine’s quality stays preserved exactly as it was intended to be.  There’s five fully expandable Luxury-Glide shelves on top, allowing you to browse your wine collection easily without the need to move bottles around, and because the shelves store the wine on its side, corks stay moist, which is an absolute must if you plan on storing your wine for an extended period of time.

As with other Electrolux appliances, functionality is only part of the package.  Not only does the Electrolux Wine Cooler store wine, it does so beautifully, thanks to its Luxury-Design LED lighting.  This lighting paired with the largely glass front transforms the Wine Cooler into a beautiful design focal point in your kitchen.  And while the majority of storage is dedicated to bottles placed on their side, for entertaining/champagne/bottles you plan on enjoying in the near future, the lowest storage area is designed to perfectly display the bottles you’ve selected, adding yet another unique design feature to the Wine Cooler.

Electrolux Wine Cooler Perfect Set Temperature Control

Electrolux Under-Counter Wine Cooler Features

In terms of features, the Electrolux Wine Cooler has everything you’d expect in a wine storage solution, with its main and most important feature being the ability to precisely select and keep a stable temperature.  Thanks to its Perfect Set Temperature Control, you can quickly and easily set any temperature between 45°F and 65°F via the electronic display panel, and in the event this temperature changes, the Electrolux Wine Cooler will alert you through audible beeps as to the specific problem (temperature change, door ajar, power failure, etc.)

From there, the Electrolux Under-Counter Wine Cooler offers a variety of convenience and display features that make using it incredibly simple and intuitive.  There’s a vacation mode, which disables lighting and keypad inputs while you travel to aid in conserving energy.  There’s the ability to lock the electronic control panel – a wonderful feature for those with touch-happy children.  There’s an integrated PureAdvantage air filter, which serves to provide six months of optimum air quality.  And as already noted, there’s Luxury-Design LED lighting, allowing to customize your wine display depending on the mood you’re in.

Everything you need to perfectly store your wine is built into the Electrolux Wine Cooler.

Electrolux Wine Cooler Luxury Glide Racks

Electrolux Under-Counter Wine Cooler Design

As is the case with the Electrolux Beverage Center, the design of the Wine Cooler notes a largely glass front panel (that’s also UV-resistant), which pairs exceptionally with the stainless steel design.  It’s modern, sleek, a little industrial, and it will look great in virtually any kitchen.  Inside, the Wine Cooler’s design is functional and well planned, with the sliding racks easily allowing you to gain access to your full wine collection quickly and easily.  And thanks to the LED lighting, reading labels even in a dark space isn’t a problem.

Aside from having your own wine cellar, there’s really not a better way to store your wine.

Electrolux Under-Counter Wine Cooler Conclusion

In planning my own home’s kitchen refrigeration needs, I found that picking between the Electrolux Wine Cooler and Beverage Center boiled down to two things:  how much wine is in my collection and how often will I be entertaining.  If you have a large wine collection and love entertaining, buy both, as you can never have enough refrigeration space.  If your idea of the perfect evening is a romantic dinner for two with a bottle of your favorite vintage, the Wine Cooler will fit the bill perfectly.  And if you’re a family that enjoys the occasional bottle of wine, the Beverage Center is an ideal choice.  Whatever you pick, you’re going to get the same beautiful design and superb functionality from both.

You can see more of the Electrolux Wine Cooler in the photo gallery below, or head over to the official Electrolux website for more information.

Wrapping up our look at the best refrigeration options for your kitchen, the final piece of the puzzle for those of you looking to separate your refrigeration spaces is the Electrolux Icon Under-Counter Wine Cooler.  As you may remember, my kitchen arrangement limited me in terms of how big my main refrigerator was, so I opted to split my refrigeration up into three parts:  the Electrolux Icon French Door Refrigerator, the Electrolux Icon Refrigerator Drawers, and as I’m about to detail, the Electrolux Icon Under-Counter Wine Cooler.

Functionally, splitting up your refrigeration units is easily the most flexible design option you can make.  In doing so, you can store some of your most used items in locations far more accessible than your main refrigerator, whether under any counter or as part of an island, and even better, you can create areas of your kitchen designed around a specific task.  With the Electrolux Wine Cooler, for instance, my kitchen design has it located in a separate nook/bar area, with corresponding wine glasses, wine accessories, etc. all centered around the wine cooler.  I’m a big fan of organization, so having various spaces in the kitchen designated for certain tasks with integrated refrigeration is fantastic.

As for the decision to opt for a winer cooler, my wife and I both enjoy wine to the extent we keep about 40 bottles on hand.  Correct storage of wine with precise temperature controls is an integral part of ensuring the wine’s quality is maintained over extended periods of time, so logically it made sense for us to opt for a wine cooler.  Considering most of our other appliances are from the Electrolux Icon line, selecting the Electrolux Icon Under-Counter Wine Cooler was an easy decision, as it offers precise temperature adjustment and a stunning design that perfectly coincides with the rest of the Electrolux Icon range.

Electrolux Icon Under-Counter Wine Cooler Features

In selecting a wine cooler, two of the elements to consider are the number of bottles its capable of storing as well as its ability to precisely control and keep a stable temperature.  With the Electrolux Icon Under-Counter Wine Cooler, you have the ability to store up to 48 bottles of your favorite vintage, while an integrated electronic control panel on the top of the door allows you to set the temperature anywhere between 45°F and 65°F.  In addition to the temperature controls, other technological features include a door ajar alarm, a power failure alarm and a high temperature acoustic alarm (if the monitored temperature deviates from your set temperature).

As for the wine storage itself, there’s a total of five upper racks that store a total of eight bottles each, and there’s a total of two lower racks that store a total of four bottles each.  To ensure the quality of the wine is maintained, bottles are all stored in the ideal horizontal position, keeping the corks moist and preventing air leakage that accompanies dry corks.  To access the wine, all racks feature a unique full extension design which gives you a completely clear, full view of each bottle on the rack.

Lastly, there’s a few other features of the Electrolux Icon Under-Counter Wine Cooler I’ve come to love, including its theater style lighting.  Matching the rest of the Electrolux Icon range, the theater style lighting not only looks incredible, it makes its easy to select a bottle irregardless of other lighting conditions in your kitchen.  Another feature I love is the ability to manually control the wine cooler’s electronics, depending on my particular needs.  The lighting, for instance, can be manually turned on or off in varying intensities, even with the door closed.  There’s a vacation mode, which disables lighting and keypad inputs while you’re away, helping conserve energy.  And there’s the ability to lock the electronic keypad, which is a much needed feature if you have small children who enjoy playing with the lights (as I do).  Finally, to ensure the air circulating in the wine cooler stays fresh, an integrated PureAdvantage air filter is included, providing six months of optimum air quality.

Electrolux Icon Under-Counter Wine Cooler Design

The entire Electrolux Icon lineup of appliances notes a stunning, commercial inspired design, and the under-counter wine cooler is no exception.  Unlike most other members of the Icon family that note a solid stainless front, however, the wine cooler notes a combination of stainless steel and glass – so while it manages to maintain a stately commercial look, it still offers a beautiful view of the wine collection stored inside.  And while glass does have potential to allow harmful UV rays to negatively alter your wine, the Electrolux Icon Wine Cooler’s glass is both tinted and UV-filtered, ensuring that even with the glass panel, your wine will stay completely protected during storage.

Matching the gorgeous exterior, inside the Electrolux Icon Wine Cooler is equally as beautiful.  The fully extendable wine racks are constructed from black soft coat wireform, perfectly framing your collection, while the front of each rack notes an unfinished maple for a warm finishing touch.  The racks also feature a ball bearing roller system, meaning not only do they fully extend, they glide effortlessly in and out as well.

And finally, like the rest of the Electrolux Icon lineup, you have a total of two design options to choose from:  the Professional Series or the Designer Series.  Both series note an identical feature set – the key difference between each is simply the handle and inclusion of the small decorative Icon nameplate.  Whereas the Professional Series notes a round, more commercial style handle and aforementioned Icon nameplate, the Designer Series notes a flatter, more contemporary handle and no nameplate.  Aside from the handles, both wine coolers are identical.

Electrolux Icon Under-Counter Wine Cooler Conclusion

For me, selecting the Electrolux Icon Under-Counter Wine Cooler was an easy decision, influenced by the fact that with a small yet important wine collection, I wanted a place to correctly store them in my kitchen.  And as I’ve come to learn, once you start a wine collection, it tends to grow, so you’re better buying a larger capacity than you need, as opposed to one that fits your current collection perfectly.  For me, the Electrolux Icon wine cooler fit the bill precisely, offering the ideal amount of wine storage in a package that like the rest of the Electrolux Icon range, is simply gorgeous.  Its stunning design paired with its precise temperature control combined to offer the perfect wine cooler for my kitchen, and as with all my Electrolux Icon appliances, I’ve yet to find fault with any.  They’ve not only met my expectations, they’ve exceeded them, and I can’t recommend them enough.