WATER LION Wine + Alchemy

A wine, sake and raw oyster bar inside The Sagamore on Collins, with tasting flights, rare bottles and low-ABV drinks.

Vérifié octobre 2026

For wine people and couples who want a quiet, knowledgeable bar off Collins before dinner. The bottles are hard to find and the staff are warm, but a 20% service charge lands on every check.

What to pour

The list runs well past wine: beer, sake, shochu, makgeolli, craft cocktails and a real low- and no-ABV lineup, which is rarer on Collins than it should be. Wine is still the headline. Miami New Times named it best wine bar, and Star Wine List put it in its top two for Miami, mostly on the strength of hard-to-find bottles. If you can't pick, the tasting flights come in three or five pours, an easy way to work through the list without committing to a bottle. Sake cocktails are the house curveball. The menu is marked subject to change, so ask what's open tonight.

Oysters and the check

Raw oysters are the food the bar puts right in its name, and they sit next to a short bites menu that reviewers keep calling out as better than bar snacks need to be. The price level reads $$, which is fair for South Beach. The catch is printed on the menu: a 20% service charge is added to every check automatically. Factor it in before you order the second flight, and don't tip twice by accident. It works best as a pre-dinner stop rather than a full meal.

Off the Collins noise

The room sits inside The Sagamore at 1671 Collins, and The Infatuation described it as a place to hide from the tourist mayhem outside. It opened in December 2021 and comes from Abbe Diaz, a longtime New York maître d' turned restaurant consultant, which shows in a bar where staff are said to be actually happy to see you. One bartender doubles as a tarot reader, and early regulars nicknamed it the marriage bar for her matchmaking. It holds 4.8 from about 240 Google reviews.

Réservations

For large parties or private events, email the bar ahead rather than walking in.

Bon à savoir

The 20% service charge is already on the bill, so read it before adding a tip.

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