Breakwater Cafe & Raw Bar
Great View, Grocery Store Wines At A Premium
Waterfront · Burlington · Seafood · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed April 7, 2026
Wingman Metrics
First Impression
The wine list at Breakwater reads like someone printed off a best-sellers report from a chain liquor store and called it a day. Kim Crawford, Meiomi, Josh Cellars — these are airport wines, and you're paying a waterfront premium on top of them. The Lake Champlain view is genuinely lovely; the list is not.
Selection Deep Dive
The 20-to-40-bottle list leans almost entirely on California workhorses with a small nod toward Alsace via Domaine Weinbach Riesling and a few New Zealand and Pacific Northwest entries. Weinbach is the one moment of genuine intention here — a serious Alsatian producer that has no business sharing a list with Josh Cellars, but we're glad it showed up. Gaps are everywhere: no sparkling, no rosé worth mentioning, no Italian whites to speak of despite a raw bar menu that's practically begging for Vermentino or Greco di Tufo. The list isn't curated so much as assembled.
By the Glass
Six to ten pours by the glass, but don't get excited — what's on offer tracks closely with the bottle list's mainstream lineup. You're likely looking at the usual suspects: Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinot Grigio. Rotation doesn't appear to be a priority here, and there's no evidence of a by-the-glass program with any ambition behind it.
Meiomi Pinot Noir 2022 — $52
We're not calling Meiomi a great wine, but at 136% markup it's the least punishing bottle on the list — and relative to everything else here, that counts for something. Pick your battles.
Domaine Weinbach Riesling
This is the only bottle on the list that signals someone, at some point, gave a damn. Weinbach is a legendary Alsace domaine and their Riesling has the acidity and texture to absolutely demolish a plate of oysters. Most tables will walk right past it — don't be most tables.
Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio 2023
Forty-five dollars for a wine you can buy at the grocery store for $16. Santa Margherita is a fine, inoffensive Pinot Grigio — but it's the most marked-up bottle on the list at 181% over retail, and it's not interesting enough to justify even half that price.
Domaine Weinbach Riesling + Oysters on the Half Shell
Alsatian Riesling and raw oysters is one of those combinations that exists for a reason. The wine's bright acidity and subtle minerality cut through the brine and fat of the oyster without overpowering it. This is the one pairing at Breakwater that actually makes sense.
Wednesday — Half-price bottles of wine all day Wednesday.
❌ The Bottom Line
Wednesday's half-price bottle deal is the only real reason to engage with this wine list — at full price, you're overpaying for brands that peaked in 2015. Grab a Weinbach on a Wednesday, eat the oysters, enjoy the lake view, and don't look too hard at the rest.
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