5 hours ago, jmacnaughtan said:I'm unsure of your point concerning electric and electronic. Never mind.
It's a little complicated, but I will explain. An electric mechanical compression motor is designed to operate vertically. It may have valves, interior refrigerant drain paths and thrust motor bearings which should be operated only in their designed position. An electronic one, OTOH, has no moving parts. It uses a noiseless Peltier junction thermal electronic device to "pump" BTUs.
5 hours ago, jmacnaughtan said:Tilting it backwards would, unfortunately, choke off the air circulation at the back of the cellar.
All you need is to tile it about two or three degrees to counteract gravity. It will not have any impact on anything. You refrigerator may have adjustable leveling legs to do that.
You can also get silicone bake sheets to separate the bottles. Will look much better than cardboard. They don't rot and dishwasher safe.
If you are in Paris, do take a look at earthquake risks in your zone and make appropriate preparations.
dcarch