Let’s read John 2:1-11, “And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there: And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage. And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come. His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it. When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom, And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now. This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.”

Because the changing of water into wine was the first miracle the Lord performed, it deserves special attention.  Often in the scriptures, wine refers to joy.  Psalm 104:15 says, “And wine that maketh glad the heart of man…”  Proverbs 31:6, “Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts.”  At the wedding that the Lord was invited to, the wine had run out.  “They have no wine.”  The Lord responded by giving wine in abundance.  We learn from this that the world cannot give lasting joy, only the Lord can give joy in abundance.  Even as the Lord’s wine was the best wine, the joy that He gives is the best joy for it is pure and eternal.

You mentioned in your question that people got drunk at this wedding, however, the scriptures do not say that.  I believe you are right in concluding that the Lord would condemn drunkenness, so we do not read that anyone got drunk at the wedding.  With that in mind, let’s read Galatians 5:19-21, “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, DRUNKENNESS, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.”  We do have a stern warning against drunkenness here, along with other sins.  Let’s also read Ephesians 5:18, “And be not drunk with wine, WHEREIN IS EXCESS; but be filled with the Spirit.”  Notice that it is not wine that is condemned, but the excess drinking of wine that would cause one to be drunk that is condemned.  The Lord does not want us to be controlled by wine (and any mind-altering substance).  Rather, He wants us to be controlled by the Spirit by being filled with the Spirit.

While wine is often mentioned as a source of joy, there is also much warning against the abuse of wine in the Bible.  For example, Proverbs 21:17 teaches us, “He that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man: he that loveth wine and oil shall not be rich.”  We also read in Proverbs 23:31, “Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.”  To desire wine in order to get drunk, or to become a lover of wine is strongly condemned and warned against.  So, we can see that the USE of wine is not condemned, but the ABUSE of wine is strongly condemned.

Some have said that the wine the Lord made was ‘new wine’ and therefore was not intoxicating.  However, on the day of Pentecost, the disciples of the Lord were mocked for their behavior and accused of being “full of new wine.” (Acts 2:13).  We know the Lord Jesus Himself drank wine (read Matthew 11:18-19), and certainly He would not have drunk wine if it was a sin.

Wine, beer, alcohol, drugs, etc. have caused great damage to many people and many families.  There are some who cannot drink just one glass of wine, to them I would encourage to stay away from any form of alcoholic drink.  As stated earlier, the Lord condemns the ABUSE of wine or strong drink.  However, we need to understand the scriptural teaching about the use of wine so we can properly understand how the Lord could change water to wine without that being sinful.  (356.4)