This water scored a perfect 100. Now it's being served like wine

Australian producers tap into growing global fine-water market Passionate South Australian surfer Damien Smith moved to the rugged western coast of Yorke Peninsula for the waves. What he didn't expect to find was water beneath his property that was worth bottling. Mr Smith and his wife Gretchen Scinta became interested in the underground aquifer after buying the property in 2008. "The tip for us was [the] freshwater crayfish down in the back paddock, but you're so close to the ocean, so you're starting to go, what's going on here?"Mr Smith said. The couple initially extracted the water for their house and to grow vegetables. But after having it tested, they realised they were sitting on something special. Mr Smith said a water engineer told him, "This is a unicorn." "He said it's the balance of the minerals in it, but it's pristine because it's so isolated, so no-one's touched this water." Taking water beyond hydration After years in the wine industry, the couple recently launched their mineral water, joining a growing global market challenging the idea that water is a commodity. One of the people driving this movement is food anthropologist Michael Mascha, who co-founded the Fine Water Society after a heart condition forced him to give up alcohol. "I looked around the table, and there was another bottle there, which was water," he said. "I applied all my curiosity I had for wine; I applied that to bottled water." After an initially hostile reception, Mr Mascha said premium water was now being taken more seriously. "Salt has made a transition from a commodity to a product with terroir, olive oil, chocolate, other products like this and I think water is now in the process of making exactly the same transition." Australia is playing an increasingly important part in this evolution. "Australia is definitely a brand that started very early … then there was a little bit of a lull, but I see now Australia is a country that's really up and coming," Mr Mascha said. The source is everything Mr Smith and Ms Scinta access their water from an aquifer in the Carribie Basin, through a sealed extraction point. To be called mineral water, it must naturally contain soluble matter. While Australia does not specify a minimum amount, in the United States mineral water must contain at least 250 milligrams per litre of dissolved solids. The couple protects the mineral make-up by moving the water through food-grade pipes underground into holding tanks. "The important thing here is, limit oxygen, limit light, and limit changes in temperature … so we do literally do nothing,"Mr Smith said. While harvesting is now straightforward, getting it to market is trickier, with the water trucked in bulk to a bottling plant near Adelaide. "If you look at Europe they've got strict rules; you need to bottle on site," Mr Smith said. "We decided we're not going to do that because glass in, glass out is not a good footprint." The footprint of the business isn't just about what leaves the property, it's also about how much should be extracted. Mr Smith says the amount is guided by government reports and engineers. "We probably need to be twice the size of Sanpellegrino to actually potentially do any damage to this basin, and we're not that. We're far, far, far from that," he said. A market under scrutiny The premium bottled water industry is growing, but so is scrutiny over how it's sourced and processed. In 2024, it was publicly revealed Nestlé Waters in France had used prohibited treatment methods on contaminated water. "People naturally are asking these questions of us as well in terms of what's your process, what's your ethos behind how you bring the water to market and so forth," Mr Smith said. "So, rightly consumers are very, very wary about where things come from and how things are managed." Yet the thirst for premium water remains strong. An international fine-water-tasting event in Canada attracted more than 100 entries. Yorke Peninsula's Carribie still water scored a perfect 100 points from one of the judges and its sparkling water scored 99. Mr Smith said the event showed him water was being taken as seriously as wine. "Going to Montreal in May was a real eye-opener in terms of how intricately people were analysing all the different waters and, I guess, how far they were looking at it in terms of food and wine matching as well," he said. Local water gains ground as drinking habits change That approach is now making its way into some Australian restaurants. At Adelaide's 2KW, sommelier Dan McEvoy serves Carribie water for $10 a bottle. "I've seen other water brands go a lot higher than that, and they're coming from Italy, they're coming from France," he said. "We can get something in our backyard, which I think objectively is better for a lesser cost." And as alcohol consumption declines, water is being given a more prominent place. "I'm seeing a lot more demand for non-alcoholic beverages, lot of waters, lot of mocktails, not only being asked for, but almost demanded in the restaurant,"the sommelier said. As for the couple that got more than they bargained for when they moved to Yorke Peninsula, they're now waiting to see what future vintages yield. However, cellaring takes a little longer than they're used to. "That rainfall now that we've experienced this week, for us to take that out of the ground, I'll be 95 [years old]," Mr Smith said. "I hope I'm here at 95 to actually taste the rains from 2026." Watch ABC TV's Landline at 12:30pm AEST on Sunday or stream anytime on ABC iview.