Seastar Restaurant and Raw Bar
750 Bottles Deep and the Oysters Are Waiting
Downtown · Seattle · Seafood · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed April 9, 2026
Wingman Metrics
First Impression
You open this wine list and immediately feel the weight of it — 750-plus bottles is not an accident, it's a statement. The Pacific Northwest gets its proper spotlight here, but France and California show up strong enough to keep things honest. This is the kind of list that makes you wish you'd made a reservation for a longer evening.
Selection Deep Dive
The backbone is Pacific Northwest white wine, which makes complete sense when half the menu is swimming in the Puget Sound. Oregon Chardonnay is particularly well-represented — Gran Moraine, Roserock, and Lingua Franca all appear, giving you a proper tour of the Willamette Valley without leaving the table. California gets its due with Rochioli and Kongsgaard, and Washington shows up through Avennia and Mark Ryan. The real flex is the Burgundy-adjacent material, including Dagueneau and Chave, which signals that whoever built this list wasn't just filling pages.
By the Glass
Twenty to thirty by-the-glass options is genuinely generous, and the selection tracks well with the bottle list — meaning you're not stuck with anonymous bulk wine while the real stuff sits behind a paywall. The NV 'Cuvee John Howie' by Nominé-Renard appears as a house Champagne play, which sets a tone right from the jump. Rotation frequency isn't confirmed, but the range suggests someone is paying attention.
Brewer-Clifton Chardonnay — null
Brewer-Clifton punches well above its price point in almost any context — it's Santa Barbara Chardonnay with real structure and restraint, not the big-butter California style. In a list trending toward prestige Oregon and Burgundy, this one often gets overlooked and priced accordingly. Great call next to a bowl of Dungeness crab.
Avennia 'Oliane'
Most people at a seafood restaurant are reaching for Burgundy or Oregon Chardonnay. The Avennia 'Oliane' — a Washington white Rhône blend — is sitting right there doing something completely different and more interesting. It's a local producer making the kind of wine that doesn't get enough credit outside of the Pacific Northwest wine nerd circuit.
Mark Ryan Viognier
Viognier is a tough sell next to delicate seafood — it's floral and rich in a way that tends to bulldoze raw bar flavors rather than complement them. Mark Ryan makes solid wine, but this is the one pick on the list that feels out of place at a raw bar table. You have too many better options here to spend your money going uphill.
Gran Moraine Chardonnay + Oysters
Gran Moraine is Yamhill-Carlton Chardonnay with a saline, mineral edge that mirrors the brine in a good Pacific oyster. It's not trying to be Montrachet and doesn't need to be — it's clean, focused, and lets the shellfish do the talking. This is the combination that makes you understand why someone built a 750-bottle list around this type of food.
🔥 The Bottom Line
Seastar is the rare seafood restaurant where the wine list is as serious as the kitchen, and the Pacific Northwest focus makes it feel genuinely intentional rather than just comprehensive. The markup keeps it from being a steal, but if you're eating oysters in Bellevue, there's nowhere better to be drinking while you do it.
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