I actually can't remember the specific wine I'm going to talk about, but that's not the point. This was about a month ago, in Paris at Obonobo, the wine bar annex of the good value modern bistro Gare au Gorille.
I didn't recognize anything on the glass list. Knowing that it tilted strongly natural, I asked the bartender for a red or rosé recommendation to go with our little plates (which were very good), explaining that I liked all sorts of wine, but had a low tolerance for volatile acidity. He chose a wine - it was a VdF from somewhere south involving both Negrette and Syrah and one or two other grapes. He said it had the least VA of any reds on the list.
The wine had nice fruit and acid, a peppery hint in the nose but with Negrette showing the most on the palate. However, the VA was distinctly there, an unwelcome guest fortunately standing just outside the door. The wine was particularly good with salami, and in that the VA might even have enhanced it slightly. But it really was at my limit.
Now if that was the red with the least VA, I have to believe that it's pretty loud in the other reds. Which would surely turn off a significant minority, if not a majority of wine drinkers. Makes me wonder if customers at such places self-select for VA tolerance, or if they just put up with it because the food and ambience is good, or don't notice, or they quietly lose customers who don't like such wines but don't interact with the staff. Probably a combination of all of those.
That said, kudos to the bartender who was understanding, warned me upfront about the wines, and selected the one I'd most likely enjoy. Not at all the stereotypical didactic or ideological natural wine seller.