Maybe it's just the company I found myself in, but every wine tasting I went to involved intoxication for the majority of the participants.
That's why it's not a "craft soda" tasting.
Although alcohol is our accepted inebriant right now, it really is a pretty nasty one. Imagine being asked to a cocaine sampling party (if you're not into that), or a cigar afficianado party (if you're not into that). Beyond the messages we've been told since birth, there really isnt much difference.