Crowd-pleasing pours for a fish fry night
Champaign · Champaign · Seafood · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed by the RagingWine Tasting Desk · July 11, 2026
RagingWine reviewed The Fish House’s wine list and gave it The Reliable — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Wingman Metrics
The wine list at The Fish House is short, familiar, and built for the person who knows what they like and doesn't want to think too hard about it. Twenty labels, mostly California and France, with names that read like a greatest-hits playlist from a mid-tier grocery store. It works — just don't come here expecting discovery.
The list leans heavily on recognizable brand names: Caymus, Whispering Angel, Veuve Clicquot, Santa Margherita. There's a token nod to white Burgundy with the Bouchard Aîné & Fils Pouilly-Fuissé, which is the most interesting wine on the list by a country mile. California dominates the reds and whites, France shows up for the bubbly and that lone Burgundy, and Italy contributes the obligatory Pinot Grigio and Prosecco. The gaps are real — no Riesling, no Albariño, no coastal whites that feel purpose-built for a seafood menu. For a fish-focused restaurant, the white wine selection feels oddly underdeveloped.
Twelve by-the-glass options is genuinely generous for a 20-bottle list, and the range from $7.50 to $25 a glass gives you room to move up or down depending on the night. The Whitehaven Sauvignon Blanc and Sonoma-Cutrer Chardonnay are the workhorses here and will keep most tables happy. Don't expect anything rotating — this list has the energy of something that hasn't changed since the restaurant opened.
Whitehaven Sauvignon Blanc — $46
Whitehaven is a clean, bright New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc that punches well above its price bracket. At $46 a bottle, it's not a steal, but it's the most food-friendly wine on the list and the one most likely to make your fried shrimp taste better.
Pouilly-Fuissé Bouchard Aîné & Fils
Everyone at the table is going to order the Chardonnay or the Sauvignon Blanc. Skip them and go for this — a white Burgundy from a solid négociant that brings real minerality and depth to a list that otherwise plays it completely safe. It's the one wine here that feels like it was chosen by someone who actually drinks wine.
Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label Brut
At $125 a bottle, you're paying a significant premium for a Champagne that retails around $55-60. It's a reliable label, sure, but that markup is doing a lot of heavy lifting for a casual fish joint in Champaign. Toast with something else.
Whitehaven Sauvignon Blanc + Grilled fish platter
The citrus snap and herbaceous edge of the Whitehaven cut right through the char on grilled fish without fighting it. It's not a complicated pairing — it's just the right one.
✔️ The Bottom Line
The Fish House isn't a wine destination, but it's not trying to be — and it pulls off a serviceable list for a casual seafood night out. Stick to the whites, grab the Pouilly-Fuissé if you want to feel like you found something, and don't let anyone talk you into the Veuve at that price.
South Champaign · Champaign · Farm-to-Table / American
Harvest Market Farmhouse is a perfectly fine neighborhood wine program that punches above its weight exactly once a week — on Mondays, when half-price bottles turn a predictable list into a genuinely good deal. The rest of the week, it's a reliable pour with fair markups, just don't come here looking for discovery.
Crowd Pleasers
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Seasonal Rotation
Acceptable
South Champaign · Champaign · Italian
Napoli's isn't a wine destination, but it's not trying to be — the list is honest, the prices are fair, and the Italian bottles genuinely complement the food. Send a friend here for dinner without hesitation; just don't send them expecting to discover anything new.
Plays It Safe
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Downtown Champaign · Champaign · Diner / Cafe
Lazy Daisy has no business having a wine list this thoughtful, and that's exactly why it earns a Wild Card. Four bottles, zero pretension, and at least two genuinely interesting pours — we'd absolutely tell a friend.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Downtown Champaign · Champaign · Mexican
Fiesta Café is a genuinely fun spot for margaritas and big burritos, but the wine list is purely ceremonial — it exists so they can say they have one. Come for the drinks menu, not the wine list.
Grocery Store
Steep
Basic Stemmed
MIA
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Champaign · Champaign · Steakhouse
LongHorn Champaign has a wine list that exists so you can say you had wine with dinner — not much more than that. If you're here for the steak, grab the J. Lohr and move on; if you came for the wine list, recalibrate your evening immediately.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Unknown · Champaign · Steakhouse
Texas Roadhouse is a perfectly good place to eat a steak and destroy a basket of rolls — just do yourself a favor and drink a beer or a bourbon instead. The wine list is grocery-store inventory at chain-restaurant markups, and no amount of country music can dress that up.
Grocery Store
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Stearns Wharf · Santa Barbara · Seafood
This isn't a wine destination, but it's a smart one — local producers, fair prices, and a list that respects what's on the plate. If you're eating shellfish on Stearns Wharf, there's no reason to skip the wine.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
East Flagstaff · Flagstaff · Seafood
Red Lobster Flagstaff is not a wine destination, and it's not pretending to be — if you're here, you're here for the biscuits and the shrimp, and that's fine. Grab a Matua or hit happy hour for the $5 pours, and spend your real wine energy somewhere else in town.
Grocery Store
Fair
Basic Stemmed
MIA
Occasional
Acceptable
West Side · Bloomington · Seafood
Red Lobster Bloomington is not a wine destination — it's a place you go for Cheddar Bay Biscuits and shellfish, and you should probably order accordingly. If you must drink wine, grab the Kendall-Jackson Chardonnay or the Ste. Michelle Riesling and move on; the list isn't worth overthinking, and neither is the markup.
Grocery Store
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
One wine list review, one adventure pick, one quick tip, and a personal note. Every week. Under 500 words.