Helmut Brandstätter· Renew

Nuanced

Austria had a very serious wine scandal exactly 40 years ago.

Omissions

• The scandal was discovered in mid-1985 (specifically the famous Bild headline was on 12 July 1985), not 1986. From February 2026, this is approximately 40.5 years, not exactly 40 years. The scandal caused a 90% drop in Austrian wine exports in 1986.

Sources

• AcademicResearchGate - Austrian wine developments after the wine scandal of 1985The 'antifreeze-scandal' resulted in a 90% drop of the Austrian wine export in 1986. The scandal is dated to 1985.
• SecondaryWine, Lies and Glycol - The Austrian Antifreeze Scandal (The Wine Stalker)The Austrian antifreeze scandal was discovered on June 27, 1985 when a bottle of Austrian 1983 Ruster Auslese containing diethylene glycol was found in a Stuttgart supermarket.
• SecondaryWein.plus Magazine - Using glycol and sugar to combat the wine crisisThe media highlight was the headline 'Antifreeze wine at grandma's birthday party—11 poisoned' in the Bild newspaper on 12 July 1985, marking the public discovery of the scandal.