What is the Hostess HW02MA?
The Hostess HW02MA was a surprise participant in our wine cooler tests. Compared to the bottle coolers from 20 to 40 that we have tried so far, it was a little, well, small. However, the tiny HW02MA of two bottles from Hostess promises to bring your wine to the perfect temperature. Whether it is cooling a white or heating a bold red, this ingenious device can do both tasks at the same time.
The Hostess warms or cools the wine effectively and quickly with precision at the set temperature. It had problems fitting into larger champagne bottles and is a bit noisy, but on an ad hoc basis it is not a big problem. In general, the HW02MA is a fabulous gadget and an ideal gift for anyone tasting their wine.
Related: Best refrigerator freezer
Hostess HW02MA – Design and features
As a two bottle wine cooler, the Hostess almost missed our wine cooler tests. However, his promise to be able to cool or heat wine was intriguing. The ability to do both at the same time was even more attractive.
Presented very well in a full color box, the HW02MA is heavy and robust. It is designed to sit on the countertop in the kitchen in use and is attractive enough to stay between jobs. The matte gray case and the silver edge show the part and the complete LCD screen frosts the visual cake. It comes with an online power supply and dedicated input on the back. We love a contraption, and so far the Hostess was marking all the right boxes.
The translucent plastic protectors open on the front of both wine containers to allow easy entry of their bottles. Inside each one is a curved metal heat transfer plate and a spring clip. The latter keeps most of the regular size bottles in firm contact with the plate.
The controls take a little getting used to. First, select which side you want to control and then scroll through red wine, white wine or champagne. From that choice, it will move through suitable temperatures with suggested types of wine for each one.
Seeing it differently, you can scroll through the wine list to match your poison and let the Hostess take the perfect beverage temperature. The red list covers the tastes of Beaujolais, Bordeaux, Cabernet, Chianti, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Rioja, Port and even Rose. The white list includes Valpolicella, Chablis, Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, Pinot and Muscadet. The selection of champagne also covers the sparkling wine and, our favorite, Asti Spumante.
Press start to put that side, then repeat the completely independent procedure on the other side. One or two bottles will be cooled or heated as necessary.
The display shows the target temperature and a small bar graph showing the progress. When the set temperature is reached, the Host beeps and a small blue LED lights to inform her that she is drinking time. If you leave a bottle in situ, the machine keeps it at the set temperature indefinitely.
Now, one could argue that leaving the reds in a warm room or dropping the Chablis in the freezer will achieve the same. True. However, as anyone who has ever opened the freezer door in the morning to find a broken bottle and came frozen in all their peas will testify, that plan has problems. Jackie and I have a full closet full of those shirts.
Hostess HW02MA: How noisy is it?
The HW02MA uses a thermoelectric heat exchanger with some quite powerful fans to help heat transfer. As such, it is not silent. We measure around 47-48dB at 1 meter distance, or almost the same as a room fan. That's remarkable in a silent kitchen.
On the other hand, this is not a device that will have all the time. He's just going to make noise while doing his things. Most likely, fans will drown with the sounds of a dinner in the background. We had several parties to evaluate the Hostess and we proved the point.
Hostess HW02MA: how much can I get?
The Hostess HW02MA carries one or two bottles, white or red, or both. The specification suggests that bottles with a champagne size of up to 90 mm in diameter can fit. We had a small problem with that.
Typical Bordeaux bottles with a diameter of 77 mm are easily inserted and removed. The largest bottles in many French white regions with 82 mm diameter are also good. The bottles of Champagne and Prosecco of more than 88 mm are a little tight.
Our 87mm diameter Moet bottle almost came in, but only with a little bit of strength & # 39; brut & # 39; It took a strong enough arm to push the bottle into your house and remove it again later. We thought that the spring clip might scratch the label, but its rounded design did not seem to cause any damage, even when the bottle was squeezed tightly. The same happened with our local bubbling, Chapel Down, who entered with a push.
The problems came with 88 mm diameter bottles and more. Enter the black label of Lanson. It was a super tight fit, and we did not want to force the bottle into the machine. We suspect that the plates and the spring clip will loosen over time and eventually accept these larger bottles. Only time and a lot of wine will tell.
I decided to call Hostess customer service in relation to the problem. Introducing myself as a regular customer, the company took my number and its expert HW02MA, complete with the unit at hand, returned to us the same day. He agreed that the champagne was watertight, but said that the metal spring will flex if you push firmly. Enough, and first class customer service too.
Where we had a stalemate was with bottles of unique shape, like our Floralba Prosecco. The conical bottle fit the Hostess, but the strange shape pushed the bottle away from the heat transfer plate. As such, many things did not happen.
Keep bottles of red and white wine as standard, and use some elbow grease for larger champagne bottles, and the Hostess works well.
Hostess HW02MA – Performance
We love it when a device performs well above expectations, and the Hostess really impressed. Our first test was a real challenge. Heating a bottle from a typical basement temperature of 13ºC to 18ºC while simultaneously cooling a white wine from the cellar to 8ºC. We placed temperature probes in the wine, in the center of the bottle, to ensure that we were accurately measuring the actual temperature of the wine.
The Hostess began to work very quickly. In the first 10 minutes, both bottles moved one degree in the right direction. That rapid performance continued, and just over 50 minutes later, the red wine side beeped at 18ºC.
A couple of minutes later, the white side did the same. Measured spot-on 8ºC in the heart of the wine bottle. By achieving both temperatures, accurately and almost simultaneously, in less than an hour was impressive.
The next day, test two used empty bottles filled with hot water at room temperature. Installed in the Hostess, the liquid in both bottles measured 21ºC. We put both sides to Asti Spumante at 5ºC cold, and we let the hostess do her thing.
In the first hour, both bottles had dropped to an impressive 11ºC. The first beep to announce success was 1 hour and 40 minutes. The other side did the same soon after. The measured temperature was about 6 ° C on both sides. In another five minutes, the temperature of the wine dropped to 5.4ºC while the cooled bottles continued to cool the contents.
The Hostess impressed us with her speed in heating and cooling wine simultaneously. However, it is even faster to set the same task on both sides. It is ideal to cool two bottles of wine from 21ºC to a cold of 5.5ºC in less than two hours.
Hostess HW02MA: How much will it cost to run?
The HW02MA consumes 40 strong watts per side. If the Hostess was running all the time, it would consume the same amount of electricity during the year as a large American-style freezer. Ouch.
But it's not, of course. This is a gadget that has to do ad hoc tasks on behalf of the perfect temperature to drink wine. In the course of our first test, with both sides running in opposite directions, he used 0.06kWh. At 15p / kWh, that's the princely sum of a not very complete penny. To achieve a perfect temperature in Bordeaux on one side and Rioja on the other, we believe that it is an absolute bargain.
Why buy the Hostess HW02MA?
From almost not being revised to become our kitchen gadget of the moment, the Hostess HW02MA really impresses. Its capacity to cool and heat wines simultaneously, achieving precise temperatures in super-fast times is ideal, and its operating costs are negligible. It looks good on the kitchen countertop and the LCD panel adds a touch of techy class. Even the bright packaging announces an ideal purchase for the wine connoisseur.
It's a bit noisy in its use, and not all larger or odd-shaped bottles will fit, but in general the Hostess HW02MA heats and cools the wine with style, precision and speed.
Verdict
An effective and elegant kitchen gadget that fulfills its promise to quickly heat or cool your wines to the correct consumption temperature.