I've been watching this thread for a while, and as a frequent alcohol-drinker, I thought I would try to report my experience as honestly as I can manage:

• Beer: In an absolute sense, I don't like the taste. Since some beers taste less bad - or more interesting - than others, I will sometimes comment that a particular beer tastes "really good". What I mean though, is that it tastes "really good" for a beer. I drink quite a lot of beer, because I usually prefer the slower, gentler, more controllable buzz to that of harder alcohol. I've heard plenty of women say they don't like beer. In some circles, it's considered unmanly for a man to say he doesn't like beer, and I expect that's why I hear it much less from men. In some situations, I take the praise of beer as shorthand for "I know we all don't have much in common, nor any real reason beyond company for hanging out, so lets go through the motions of affirming our mutual love for something that is safe to affirm mutual love for."
• Wine: This is definitely all about the taste, but it's not at all the same category of taste as sugar or a milkshake. This is all about the complexity of dozens of interacting flavors. It is a kaleidescope that you "see" with your tongue. It's a taste experience by definition, but that doesn't mean that it is anything like the tastiness of a milkshake. The thrill is in the richness of the patterns that exist in the taste. Importantly, I find that only certain wines at certain ages produce this effect to a worthwhile degree. Lousy wine tastes lousy. A really good cabernet franc, say, can be the kind of amazing that makes me bolt upright in my chair and go wide-eyed. Really. As far as the alcohol component, it is such an intrinsic part of the taste-orchestra that I, unfortunately, find it impossible to speculate on whether I'd still drink wine without it. I think I would still drink it if it did not produce a buzz, although there would be one less reason. I think I would still like swishing it around, even if I was only going to spit it out. Needless to say, I find it to be an extremely pleasant way to get buzzed.
• Mixed drinks/Hard alcohol: As far as I'm concerned, these have always existed solely as a fast-track to getting buzzed or drunk. For me, they might as well be an IV drip. I, however, administer them in the normal way, because it is normal and practical. Also, sipping lets me roughly calibrate my dosage to match others, and the situation.
• Bat urine: I don't think this is a fair argument at all, because you cannot separate your disgust reaction from pure taste, in the experience of drinking something. Several bodily fluids have little/fairly neutral taste, but the experience of drinking it would still be disgusting.

I agree that most alcohol consumption is mainly about the buzz. I like different states of consciousness. The one induced by alcohol is not my favorite, but it's one I can enjoy without having to sneak around or worry about prison, so I make do with the (somewhat personally disappointing) political freedoms I have. I do drink wine for the taste - it just isn't the same kind of taste as anything else. It's a sensory-overload experience that happens to be delivered by the tongue.

Isn't it possible that a little bit of complex, astringent bitterness can actually make a sweet fruity drink more palatable? I wouldn't drink a virgin margherita; I honestly believe the tequilla and triple sec make it taste better.

It seems like this whole argument is motivated out of a wish to make it socially acceptable to say "I don't like the taste of beer" by trying to paint everyone who disagrees as liars.