The Austrian wine scandal of 1985 regarded the addition of small amounts of diethylene glycol (a poison) to wines claiming natural high sweetness. No one died, but sales of naturally sweet wines–which were popular on export markets–were badly hit, especially so for late harvest Burgenland wines, which was the region targeted by the fraudsters. The new wine law of 1985 to avoid a repeat was soon deemed inoperable by growers and merchants, and thus it was revised as from 1986.

Bibliography

Hugh Johnson, Hugh Johnson’s Wine Companion (1991, 3rd edition, Mitchell Beazley), p.417.