Inside Melbourne’s ‘wine house’ where shocked cleaners waded through 4,000 bottles in hazmat suits

A Melbourne property-cleaning team removed about 4,000 empty wine bottles and extensive rubbish from a home left vacant after its resident died. The scale and condition of the property, which the cleaners called “the wine house”, highlighted the difficult circumstances in which someone had been living.

Business owner Kristjan Tuul said the clean-up took two days and required staff to work in full hazmat suits amid biological waste and years of built-up filth. His team estimated they removed 70 cubic metres of rubbish; although the bottles did not qualify for Victoria’s container deposit refund, they arranged for them to be recycled. Tuul said the job was a reminder to check in on people who may be struggling.