On the other hand if you are going to try it then do it in France but get the waiter to help you chose the food that goes with it rather than the other way around. I suspect something fatty or Pate might be right. A whole bottle still feels like a mistake

Still I would be careful if I had any wobbly teeth :-)

bilboburgler:

Your reasoning (if a lot of people like something, then there must be a lot of it) seems flawed. Demand and supply don't always work that way. There can be constraints on supply (either natural or artifical). There are, for example, a lot of people who like wild Sockeye salmon, but there's very little of it around.

The aligote grape seems to suit some climates (eg colder climates) more than others (eg Washington State), which might be one reason why we don't see a lot of it.

Nah, its rubbish and its cheap

bilboburgler:

Please try a Bouzeron-Aligoté. You will change your opinion!

bilboburgler: I would posit that you simply haven't had a decent Aligote. And your dictum that it's only made in small quantities because it's not popular is ridiculous. Truffles aren't rampant on the marketplace, either.

I guess bilboburger doesn't realized that the aligote grape comprises only 2% of the grapes grown--a reason for its scarcity. Another wine we like in France, and hard to find here because of short supply is Bergerac, a red from near Bordeaux. So many wines so little time.
As to whether to try it--it's only a bottle of wine. I don't like every zin or merlot or whatever I drink. But I certainly would not tell someone never to try one. Garbage.

The 2% refers to Burgundy grapes, by the way, lest that get a rise.

In bilboburger's defense, Aligote IS a marginal grape. Nobody is converting large tracts of prime Chardonnay territory to cultivate it. It is grown on marginal plots and areas too cold for Chardonnay.

And it is acidic and not to everyone's (or even many people's) liking. It has its uses, such as Cremant, and it is pretty popular in Eastern European vineyards, but I don't think anybody is beating down the door to buy the stuff.

Even if bilboburger went a bit overboard in his condemnation, let's not go equally overboard in our praise for the stuff. It is what it is, a niche table wine that rarely rises to the level of the better whites.

Thanks guys I will try a Bouzeron-Aligoté. But when I do.... :-)