just one year after austria was rocked by a wine-doctoring scandal, italy is facing a similar crisis. nineteen people have died and about 100 have been hospitalized in recent weeks after drinking cheap wine containing methanok (methyl alcohol) authorities guess that some producers added methanal-commonly used as a paint thinner-in order to boost the alcohol content of their wine. even though the doctoring appears to be limited to lower-quality wines, the reputation of the entire italian wine industry has suffered a severe blow. in west germany, entire truck-loads of italian wine have been checked by italian authorities. moreover, wine producers in southern france have called for a ban on italian imports