Wine Cabinet Materials Compared
A wine cabinet is judged on the frame. An aluminium extrusion with a cover cap looks fine in a showroom and reads as plastic at 400 mm. A folded stainless profile is the same thickness all the way through, because it is the same piece of metal.
The frame
Most glass cabinets use an aluminium extrusion: a hollow profile with a thin wall and a cover cap over the joint. It is cheap, light, and it cannot be made thinner than the extrusion die allows — usually 30 mm and up.
We fold the frame from 1.2 mm stainless sheet. Folding gives an 18 mm sightline from the front, a closed corner with no cap, and the strength of a box section without the wall thickness of an extrusion. The trade-off is that folding is a slower, hand-fed process and the corner radius has to be tooled per profile.
| Frame | Typical sightline | Corner | Finish options |
|---|---|---|---|
| Folded 1.2 mm stainless (ours) | 18 mm | Welded and polished | 63 surfaces |
| Aluminium extrusion + cap | 30 – 60 mm | Visible cap | Anodised, 6 – 10 colours |
| Steel box section, painted | 40 mm + | Mitred, visible seam | Powder coat |
| Solid timber | 40 – 70 mm | Mitred or dowelled | Stain or lacquer |
304 or 201 stainless
304 is the grade you want anywhere the metal will be touched daily or exposed to moisture. It holds its finish and resists the chloride pitting that shows up as small dark specks on a cheaper grade.
201 is a legitimate material for a dry, low-touch internal structure, and it costs less. It is not the right material for a frame next to a sink or in a coastal house. We specify 304 for anything visible and will tell you when 201 is being used internally.
The interior
The interior decides how the cabinet feels when it is open, and it changes the price more than the frame does.
- Stainless cradle — the most durable, and the most neutral behind a bottle.
- North American red oak — the standard timber cradle. Warm, cheap relative to white oak, and it takes a stain well.
- White oak — three to four times the material cost and longer to source. Choose it for the open grain, not for durability.
- Acrylic grid — invisible, so the bottles appear to float. It scratches and it yellows under UV, so it belongs behind glass, not in an open rack.
- Fluted glass backing — softens the lighting and hides the wall behind the bottles.
Glass
Clear glass shows everything, including the back panel. Tinted or grey glass hides the wall and cuts UV. Fluted glass diffuses light and hides dust, which is why it is the finish that holds up longest in a bright room.
On a cooled unit the glass is double-glazed Low-E with a heated perimeter on the warm side. On an uncooled unit it is single-pane, because there is no temperature differential to fog it.
The detail behind the text
From this page to a delivered cabinet
- Made in
- Shunde, Foshan, China — frame, finish and assembly in one workshop
- Frame
- 18 mm stainless sightline, folded to the measured wall
- Materials
- Stainless steel, tempered or low-E glass, felt-lined bottle cradle
- Cooling
- Embraco compressor, 110 V / 60 Hz for the US, 220–240 V elsewhere
- Production
- 30 to 40 days after the 50% production deposit, quoted per project
- Delivery
- Crated, collected by your forwarder, with a numbered setting-out drawing
- Installation
- By your fitter, to our drawing; we dry-fit and inspect before crating
The questions that come up before an order
Why is stainless better than wood for a wine cabinet?
It does not move with humidity, it does not need refinishing, and it can be welded into a frame thin enough to disappear. Timber is the better choice for the interior cradle, not for the structure.
Is 201 stainless acceptable?
For internal, dry, low-touch parts, yes. For a visible frame or anything near water, we specify 304 and will say so on the quote.
Can you match a RAL colour?
Yes, across 63 surfaces in eight families, and we will match to a physical sample you post to us if the colour is critical.
Send the wall and the bottle count
Three photographs and a tape measure is enough for a scheme, a finish direction and a price. The drawing fee covers the CAD and the visuals.