what other liquids can one use as medical disinfectant besides alcohol? Let's assume alcohol is in short supply.
Can one use white wine as disinfectant?

What are you trying to disinfect?

clean water and soap--i have about 20 empty saline water
bottles that were used in a hospital ER to wash out wounds.
great bottles for keeping things like rice and flour dry on
canoe trips..light weight--won't break--safe plastic--
wine??think about how it's made--fermented grapes..i think
you can use just about any liquid thats not filthy to wash
out a wound--and thats the trick..if you wash out the gunk
that was on whatever made the wound the body can heal itself.

As a liquid medical disinfectant, Povidone iodine, merthiolate, camphor, tea tree oil, bleach, hot water, silver nitrate (aq), ferric chloride (aq), copper chloride (aq). There's a lot more, just those off the top of my head to begin with.

Hydrogen Peroxide

I'm not real fond of hydrogen peroxide as an open-wound disinfectant. Tends to "burn" exposed tissue.

That being said, I knew a surgeon who would use a mix of povidone-iodine and hydrogen peroxide to disinfect abdominal cavities...called it "the foaming brown goo"

Any alcoholic beverage can be a successful disinfectant (say, for medical instruments) if the alcohol percentage is high enough (say, around 140 proof, or 70% alcohol) and the exposure time is long enough.

Just about any alcoholic "drinking" liquid can be used to irrigate a wound, if that's what you're after. At the worst, it will help clean the wound.

There have been a number of studies using a bleach mixture for irrigating battlefield wounds, check google.

No but you can use vinegar.

For disinfecting flat surfaces: lemon juice, vinegar, baking soda
http://www.purdue.edu/envirosoft/housewaste/src/research.htm

regarding surgeons and their thoughts on antisepsis: an arkansas orthopedist recommended the application of a paste made3 up of plaster dust and bourbon to superficial skin infections-he said the bacteria would get drunk and stone each other to death.

Hydrogen peroxide works, but seems to be on the outs with first aiders. Apparently it keeps killing tissue long after it's used, so it slows healing. My unscientific experiments tend to support this, though I wouldn't hesitate to use it if that were the only choice. I still use it on my hounds because they can lick it without harm.

I'm told that mild acids like vinegar won't work on 'gut' bacteria like e-coli which are toughened against acid environments. For surface disinfecting, I always have household bleach on hand. Mixed with water in a spray bottle, plus a few drops of dish soap, it's the all-purpose cleaner/disinfectant. Kills mould and mildew dead, and hantavirus too (lot of deer mice around this old farmstead).

Betadine scrub works, but it stinks, stains, and is generally darn messy. Possibly good to have around since it seems to keep.

The best stuff I've found for for wounds is "Hibitane soap" which comes in a concentrated form. Mix very sparingly with water. Doesn't sting. Seems to work well on bacteria and fungal infections. Goes a long, long way too. I get it from my hounds' veterinary clinic. Half an ounce of this stuff accompanies me on outdoors trips. (To the best of my knowledge, it's the same stuff used on people, but can't be labelled that way if sold by a vet. That said, use at your own risk.)

High-test booze, as suggested above, will do a lot. I'd suggest taking a long swig before pouring it on an open wound. The swig, plus the jumping around and cursing that will follow application, helps encourage vascular flow. :-)