Skybar WP0550 ONE 1-Chamber Wine Preservation System

For a unit that is otherwise so well-designed, well thought-out, and well-executed, it is inconceivable to me that the team of executives bringing it to market would allow it to be done with such an OUTRAGEOUSLY NOISY single 80mm fan cooling the heatsink in the back of the unit. It is as loud as one of those handheld vacuum units most of us buy to clean up small messes in our homes and I'm not exaggerating. Any time I enter the kitchen or the living room adjacent, or when I first come home and open the door, I am FLOORED by how loud this thing is. This unfortunate and ridiculous construction flaw makes it unacceptable for use in most people's homes, unless they are deaf or hosting parties with loud music to drown it out. Or perhaps, as the 2nd reviewer stated below, have it in a side room.

What I am about to write cannot be condoned by either Amazon or the manufacturer, and we must of course agree to hold them harmless (and me too, for that matter): if, like me, you want to have the functions that this unit provides but find a workaround for the tornado blower fan ----AND PROVIDED YOU'RE WILLING TO KISS YOUR WARRANTY GOOD-BYE ----then do what I did today: unplug it, remove the rear case panel, remove the fan, cut its wires, and attach your own purchased, third-party, aftermarket 80mm fan that is much quieter. I personally installed a Noctua NF-R8, which is nearly silent bliss. Of course, it moves less air, and it takes a long time for the Skybar now to cool a bottle down to the ordered temperature, and I'm sure what I did will shorten the unit's useful life ----but now I can live with it without wanting to yell and knock it off the counter.

Otherwise, just don't buy it. Wait until they make one with three 120mm silent fans instead, or something like that.

I was trying to explain this product to my 77 year old mother over the phone. I told her that if someone opened some wine and didn't finish it this thing would keep it cold and ready to drink for days. She responded by saying 'Why don't they just put the box back in the fridge?" Obviously, the Skybar is not for her (plus, I'm pretty sure that she was pulling my leg.) If you don't get why someone would spend this much on what is basically a one-bottle refrigerator, then you probably don't need this either. However, if you take wine so seriously that your favorite vintage costs more per bottle than your first car did, then I don't need to explain it to you.

You don't have to be rich to be an oenophile (though it helps.) I had a wine cellar in the past and I had it filled with relativity modestly prices wines. No '45 Chateau Mouton Rothschild or '78 Montrachet in my cellar. Instead I had mostly domestic wines that I had either collected on my travels or had purchased based on recommendations from my favorite local wine merchant. Most of them were in the 30-100 dollar price range when I purchased them and almost all of my bottles needed to be aged for quite a few years before they reached their prime. At that point they were usually worth quite a bit more on the open market than I had spent on them, but to me they were priceless. I had invested not only money but time, patience, and my ever growing expectations. When the time finally came to enjoy a bottle the real question was, how do I do this? Drink it by myself, invite a couple of fellow wine enthusiasts over, break it out at a dinner party? I tried all of there strategies with mixed results. Now with the Skybar One, I have the answer.

First, how well does it work? This is subjective but I wanted to get more than just my opinion on the Skybar so I invited over two friends with similar tastes as mine to check it out. One friend was kind enough to donate a bottle of 2007 Opus One. We opened it and each had a small (3oz.) glass of this wonderful wine. Although we all agreed that it could benefit from a little more aging, it was incredible. Putting a bottle into the Skybar ONE for the first time was more than a little comical. Once we got it figured out, we set the correct temperature, closed it up and just looked at it. For a long time. No one wanted to leave. One week later we gathered again to sample the wine. I was really impressed, to me it tasted the same as when it was first opened, maybe even a little better. One friend said that he noticed just a little oxidation but the general consensus was that the Sky ONE did what it claimed to do. If I had this ten years or fifteen years ago, well... at least I am very glad to have it now. The noise was not a problem for me and it really looks cool. I thought that I would like the bigger, 3 bottle model, but this one takes up enough space as it is. All-in-all, this is a great product.

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I received the Skybar One single bottle wine dispenser for Christmas, and after six weeks of use I am extremely happy with it. First, I have not had any issues with the unit being too noisy. I have it sitting on a sidebar, just off the kitchen. People see it and pass it often in the house (usually to stop and refresh their glass!) and nobody has complained about the unit being noisy. It does have some fan noise, because it's a refrigerator after all, but unless I had it next to my bed (unlikely my wife would allow this) the noise is completely acceptable.

The operation is very straightforward. You select your wine type, or you can manually set the temperature. The dispenser attaches to the neck of the bottle. Not all bottle sizes will fit, but I have found that 95% do. It doesn't take long to figure out which oversized bottles are too tall for the machine. Once the bottle is inserted into the machine you close the door and the air is pumped out, preserving the wine. Dispensing is very quick, and people enjoy the experience. In my testing I have found that most wines will last 5-7 days before showing any signs of turning sour. White wines will do better on average.

When changing bottles I run the dispenser under the tap and also allow a bottle of clean, warm water to run through the system. I have not noticed any "cross contamination" or unusual taste in the wine. Definitely no "plastic" taste some have talked about.

The LED lights do a nice job of showing off the label, and all my guests have been impressed with the unit. Hopefully it will continue to operate for many years to come with no issues.

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This is a great machine for home use. Chilling a bottle of wine does not take long at all. One should be prepared for the semi-loud noise it makes when it breaks the vacuum seal and when resealing. The noise is tolerable and short lived. Overall I am very pleased with mine. It is also quiet impressive to guests.

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I just got this from a retailer who had it heavily discounted on clearance. I would not have purchased it otherwise, partly because I saw this previously at a department store where I plugged it in and turned it on and clearly heard the fan above the department store din. I also don't drink a whole lot of wine, but the value at the clearance price made me decide to take one home. The first impression is that it looks great! It can add a lot of class to any space where you might put it. The l.e.d. illumination makes any old bottle of table wine look like a cherished bottle of fine vintage. It also looks very cool how the bottle appears to be "floating", since it is held in place from the top. Wine absolutely tastes better when served at the proper temperature, and this gives you that easily and consistantly. It is fun to use.

The noise issue: quite simply it sounds about like an old pc. You will clearly hear it. You can hear it from quite a distance in a quiet setting. In a quiet room you'll hear it from 20 feet away. Whether this is a minor or major issue for you is something that will depend on placement, your environment and your tolerance for this sort of thing. It is the kind of thing where I can see some people hardly caring much at all, while others might find it unbearable. I would say that placement is really key. In a kitchen, game room or other such place where you will not need total quiet and will not be doing serious music listening or movie watching, then you should not have a problem with it.

I am limiting this review to a first impression for now, since I am writing this only a day after purchase. I think that it is important to note that many of the more positive reviews which have been written in the past month or so are from the Vine Program, which means that the reviewer received their product for free (an even better deal than I got).

Update: I have so far tried two bottles of red, and am dissapointed with the preservation performance. I noticed a souring of taste after only 4-5 days, possibly even 3, but it was difficult to notice. I will need to do some more evaluation. I am using the originally installed insert and the bottles are standard sizes. The main use of this for me was to extend the life of a bottle since I do not drink a lot on any one day, but so far it seems I am getting almost zero extra preservation over simply recorking.

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