You're aware that there's an entire profession based around the taste of wine, right? And that wine prices are based on their taste not their alcohol content? I don't understand how it's possible to be incredulous about people liking the taste of alcohol. I think most people like the taste of alcohol. Certainly haute cuisine is about taste. There's no section in Escoffier about getting shwasted.

"And that wine prices are based on their taste not their alcohol content?"

If wine prices were determined by taste then the most expensive wines in the world would be Oregon pinos, Rioja tempranillos, albarinos, etc. But in fact most of these wines are dirt cheap. The things that determine the price of wine are mostly the brand of the wine itself and the brand of the region it comes from. Taste plays only a very small role in pricing. And the alcohol content actually significantly effects how people perceive the taste, because when people are tasting a dozen plus wines in a sitting they tend to prefer the ones with higher alcohol content because they stand out more as they lose their taste perception, even if these wines wouldn't be that good on their own.

If you're getting intoxicated while wine tasting, you are doing it wrong.

Did I say anything about becoming intoxicated? Anosmia/ageusia have nothing to do with intoxication.

If the mere presence of alcohol improves the perceived taste, then it does tastes better. Only actual intoxication could properly be said to corrupt results, since ethanol is a legitimate source of flavor.

That's not correct. The alcohol makes you think the wine tastes better when you are comparing it with lots of other wines at the same time, because it makes it 'pop' more. But if you actually drink that wine on its own, the way one normally drinks wine, then it wouldn't necessarily be your favorite.

I have nothing against this. That's why I said it was awesome they really appreciated the taste of alcohol.

They appreciate the taste of the various beverages, not the alcohol (although, to be clear, the alcohol does contribute to the various flavors). Very few people drink alcohol, rather they drink things that happen to contain alcohol.

You might be thinking that I'm being pedantic right now, but having a firm grasp on this concept is important if you wish to understand why people drink what they drink.

Consider how silly it would sound if we talked that way about baking soda.

But the rest of my comment - yeah, I still enjoy the flavour when getting drunk, but even if I didn't care for the taste I'd still enjoy drinking on a night out.

edit: The only argument I would make against getting drunk, in my case, is that when doing it I'm obviously not taking the healthiest path. But I strongly suspect my food and nicotine habits are much bigger problems in the long-term.