Catch Restaurant + Raw Bar
Oceanfront Oysters Deserve Better Than Meh Wine
Oceanfront · Virginia Beach · Coastal Seafood · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed March 28, 2026
Wingman Metrics
First Impression
The list lands like the restaurant itself — polished, coastal, and trying hard to impress. Eighteen by-the-glass options is a real commitment, and the geographic spread (France, Spain, California, even Virginia) signals someone gave this more than five minutes of thought. That said, when glasses top out at $85, you'd better make sure what's in them is worth it.
Selection Deep Dive
The bottle list pulls from the right ZIP codes — Burgundy, Napa, Toro, Stag's Leap — and there are genuine showstoppers here like the Vega Sicilia 'Pintia' and Shafer 'Relentless' Syrah. The California lean is heavy, which makes sense for a tourist-heavy oceanfront crowd, but it does crowd out some of the more interesting European depth the list hints at. A nod to Virginia producers is a smart local touch that not enough Beach restaurants bother with. Gaps show up in the Rhône, Loire, and anything remotely funky or natural — this is a conventionalist's list.
By the Glass
Eighteen pours is genuinely impressive for a seafood house in Virginia Beach, and the range spans from a $17 Luca Paretti Prosecco all the way up to a $85 Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label by the glass — which, respectfully, is a brutal markup for a bottle you can grab at any grocery store. The mid-tier glass options are where the real action is, with the Domaine Laroche Chablis and Jordan Chardonnay giving you something worth ordering with a tower of oysters.
Domaine Laroche Chablis 'St. Martin', Burgundy, France 2021 — $17–$85 range (glass)
Laroche's 'St. Martin' is a legit Chablis from a serious producer — bright acidity, oyster-shell minerality, and the kind of French restraint that makes a raw bar sing. It's the wine on this list doing the most honest work.
Vega Sicilia 'Pintia' Tempranillo, Toro, Spain 2017
Most people at a seafood restaurant will autopilot to white wine and never glance at the reds. That's a mistake here. Pintia is Vega Sicilia's Toro project — dense, structured, and built to age. It's a serious bottle hiding on a list full of crowd-pleasers.
Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label, Champagne, France NV
At $85 a glass, you're paying a punishing premium for a Champagne that retails around $60 a bottle. It's a name people recognize, which is exactly why restaurants charge what they do for it. Order the Chablis and put the difference toward dessert.
Domaine Laroche Chablis 'St. Martin', Burgundy, France 2021 + Oysters on the Half Shell
Chablis and raw oysters is less a pairing and more a law of nature. The wine's chalky minerality and citrus edge cut straight through the brine without fighting it — they're essentially from the same place geologically. This is the order.
✔️ The Bottom Line
Catch does enough right on the wine front to earn a recommendation for a special night out at the Beach — just order smart, stay in the Chablis lane, and don't let anyone talk you into a $85 glass of Veuve. It's a reliable list that could be great with a little more courage and a lot less markup.
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