Some have assumed that previous dispensations lived the Word of Wisdom as we live it today. This was not the case. Except for the priests in the temple and the order of the Nazarites (Lev 10:9; Judg 13:4), the consumption of wine or strong drink is not expressly forbidden in any Book of Mormon or Bible passage. Rather, the excessive use of alcohol is discouraged. As Paul wrote, be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess (Eph 5:18). During his ministry, the Savior drank wine with the spiritually infirm. For this, he was accused of being a wine-bibber (Matt 11:19). Many have gone to great lengths to prove that the wine that the Savior drank was new wine, or in other words, grape juice. This represents a misunderstanding of the way alcohol was used under the Mosaic Law.
Nowhere is this more evident than in the story in which Nephite wine was given to Lamanite guards with the express intent of making them drunk. The Nephites had alcoholic wine, they drank alcoholic wine, and they used it for their sacrament (3 Nephi 18:3-8). They had no problem drinking liquors made by the Lamanites, as long as the Lamanites drank first.