Vinotemp Two Bottle Wine Dispenser Hack

Another example of “if it’s too good to be true it probably isn’t.”

I found a Vinotemp 2-bottle chiller and dispenser at Walmart for about $650 (over $1200 everywhere else). Got it home, set it up and was pleased with the result until I tried to buy replacement nitrogen. Vinotemp’s less-than-helpful chat told me that they had none in stock and no scheduled replenishment orders! My “deal” had just become a boat anchor. Found all kind of 3rd-party cartridges that fit but only for Co2, not nitrogen. I’m not trying to make wine spritzers so I decided to get creative.

I converted from nitrogen to food grade argon. Had to buy a cylinder, regulator, hose, and various fittings. About $200 all in for 20cu ft of argon. The OEM refills are $215 for 5 12-gram cartridges. Haven’t done the math but I think I came out ahead. Each refill of argon will be about $50.

Vinotemp needs to solve this since multiple sites are still selling this unit with no anticipated refill’s available.