What does the manufacturer say about clearances? That should be your guide.

I believe it has to do with the pressure of the gas they use between the door glass. Less pressure for high altitude and more pressure for lower altitudes. A less pressured door at low altitude may let moist air compromise the glass seal.

Did you ever install this wine fridge? i am getting one too and would like to put it at the end of a cabinet run, very close to our kitchen table and family room where we talk, study, and watch tv all the time. i am also concerned about the noise. Apparently there are two thpes or wine fridge, compressor or thermoelectric and the thermoelectric one is quieter but not sure if its as good at preserving wine. also not sure which type thermador is. any thoughts/knowledge on this topic would be appreciated.

The IT person in me says this is a security problem, so you need to first identify your threat model. In a best case scenario, you can trust your kids and you teach them to treat alcohol with the appropriate respect; but you also avoid any taboo around it. This probably involves going ahead with a good example (i.e. drink responsibly and don't get drunk) and also letting them taste from your drinks when you have some. If you generally think you can trust them, but you are not 100% certain, then maybe all you need is an alarm system that tells you when it was tripped. Sticking a magnetic sensor onto the door and hooking it up to some sort of alarm system would achieve this goal. There are plenty of different ways of doing this. A quick search finds: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B085HTMGYV combined with https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B07TQLKQLJ. I have not used this product before, but I think it could be set up to send you a text message whenever somebody opens the fridge door. Or maybe, you actually want to lock the fridge, because an alarm isn't good enough. In that case, the easiest option would be buying a panel-ready fridge and asking your contractor to attach a lock to the panel. A lockable door hasp latch would be the easiest option. But I am sure a good locksmith could construct a prettier solution. Finally, all of this assumes that your kids are at least somewhat trustworthy. If that isn't the case, things get much more difficult. All of the options that I quoted can be defeated: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCm9K6rby98W8JigLoZOh6FQ When I was a teenager, I wasn't tempted by my parents' booze; but I absolutely would consider any of these security products as a worthy challenge.