In 2008, an Australian couple bought coastal land and found a pristine ‘unicorn’ aquifer; 18 years later, they are selling it as fine water for $10 a bottle, after it scored 100/100

Pic credit: Instagram/ Carribie

Damien Smith, a passionate South Australian surfer, and his wife, Gretchen Scinta, moved to the western coast of Yorke Peninsula to catch the waves. What they really caught was something even more precious: fresh water that’s worth bottling. Soon, the land turned them into fine-water producers, with their bottled water earning a perfect 100-point score, ABC News reported.The couple bought the Yorke Peninsula property in 2008, and a few years later, they noticed something extraordinary. They noticed crayfish thriving in the back paddock. This was strange given that crayfish are freshwater dwellers, and the land they bought is surrounded by ocean. They consulted an engineer and discovered that their land was a geological anomaly. They were sitting on an isolated underground aquifer so pristine that it barely needed extraction or processing. The water had never been touched by contamination. It’s naturally mineralised. And that’s how the ocean-loving couple tapped into the growing global fine-water market. Their water is now served at Adelaide’s 2KW, bysommelier Dan McEvoy for $10 a bottle.

They hit a ‘unicorn’

Pic credit: Instagram/ Carribie

All of it began with an accidental discovery. The couple came for the ocean and waves, but stumbled upon something else. “I’d been surfing this coast for over 35 years now. 20 years ago I came back with Gretchen, she fell in love with this remote stretch of South Australia’s Yorke Peninsula. We came for the surf, the coastline and the lifestyle. What we discovered beneath the dunes was something extraordinary — a naturally mineralised aquifer that would eventually become Carribie Mineral Water,” the couple said in a post shared on Instagram.

Pic credit: Instagram/ Carribie

And the discovery really started from the crayfish they saw in the paddock. They wondered how freshwater crayfish could survive on land surrounded by ocean. “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?” Smith told the broadcaster. They used this water for their house and to grow vegetables. They were curious enough to test the water, only to discover that they were sitting on something special. “This is a unicorn,” a water engineer told them. “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,” Smith recalled.

Water so pristine that it could be savoured like wine

Damien Smith and his wife, Gretchen Scinta, had worked in the wine industry for years. So when they discovered an underground aquifer on their land, they knew what they had to do. They bottled it and built their brand, Carribie, which sells mineral water sourced from their land on the Yorke Peninsula, overlooking the Great Southern Ocean. The water scored a perfect 100 from judges at an international fine-water tasting. The sparkling version came close behind at 99. A 12-bottle case of still mineral water now sells for $69, with the sparkling water priced at the same rate, according to their website.

Pic credit: Instagram/ Carribie

The fine-water market may sound niche, but the industry is growing with demand for pristine water. And its producers are challenging the idea of water as a commodity. One among them is food anthropologist Michael Mascha, who co-founded the Fine Water Society after his heart forced him to quit alcohol. He argues that water has terroir like wine and can be matched with food. The movement is gaining momentum, especially as the global population is slowly turning away from alcoholic beverages. “I looked around the table, and there was another bottle there, which was water,” Mascha said. Though premium water initially didn’t get attention, people have started to take it 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 arrived early to this market and is finding its footing. “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,” he said.

The source matters

Smith and Scinta’s mineral water is in demand because of the source. They’ve resisted the industrial logic that treats water extraction as a simple commodity play. The aquifer exists in the Carribie Basin, accessed through a sealed point that minimises contact with the surface. They move the water through food-grade pipes underground into holding tanks, limiting oxygen, light and temperature changes, without any treatments or shortcuts. According to Smith, that’s all it needs: “The important thing here is, limit oxygen, limit light, and limit changes in temperature … so we do literally do nothing.”This hands-off approach runs counter to how most premium waters reach the market, especially after the recent scandals that exposed what happens when scale prioritises cost-cutting. In 2024, Nestlé Waters admitted using banned filters and ultraviolet treatment on mineral waters, paying a €2-million fine to avoid legal action. The reputational damage rippled through the entire bottled-water industry, sharpening consumer scrutiny about sourcing and processing methods.Amid the rising demand, Gretchen Scinta is training to become a certified water sommelier. This is perhaps a credential that wouldn’t have made sense a decade ago. But now it does. Australian restaurants are starting to treat water with the care once reserved for wine pairings. Now the question really is: Would you pay hundreds of dollars for fine water?