Carribie Featured on ABC Radio: Australian Mineral Water Takes Off Glo

Yorke Peninsula is best known for its grain. But on the southern tip of the peninsula, something very different is being drawn from deep underground, and ABC Radio has taken notice.

On Friday 11 September 2026, Carribie Mineral Water was featured on ABC Radio's flagship morning program AM, in a segment titled “Mineral Water Takes Off Globally”. Presented by ABC Landline journalist Kerry Staight, the story looks at the growing international appetite for fine water, and at how a single coastal aquifer in South Australia has become part of that conversation.

Listen to the ABC AM segment

A Global Stage for Australian Fine Water

The segment features Carribie founders Damien Smith and Gretchen Scinta alongside Michael Mascha of the Fine Water Society, one of the world's leading voices on premium water, and Adelaide sommelier Dan McEvoy, recently voted as #7th Best Sommlier in Australia by Sommelier Edit, who pours Carribie at 2KW.

Fine water is increasingly treated the way the world treats wine: judged on mineral profile, mouthfeel and provenance, and matched with food. It is a category that has long been led by European springs. Carribie is one of the Australian producers now showing that this country's water deserves a place on the same table.

From a Surfer's Property to 100 Points

Damien and his wife Gretchen Scinta bought their property on the rugged western coast of the Yorke Peninsula in 2008. The water beneath it was a surprise. After years of drinking it at home, they had it tested, and their water engineer Dr Darren Oemcke described what they had found as a unicorn: pristine, isolated and remarkably balanced.

Carribie is drawn from the ancient Carribie Basin through a sealed extraction point. To protect its natural mineral make-up, the water travels through underground food-grade pipes into holding tanks, limiting its exposure to light, oxygen and temperature changes.

At the Fine Water Sumit in Montreal, Canada, Carribie Still received a perfect 100 points from one of the judges, and Carribie Sparkling received 99 points from another.

Structured for the Table

Carribie is an estate mineral water, shaped by the place it comes from and made to be enjoyed with food. Poured into a wine glass, its character becomes clear: a gentle natural sweetness, a savoury mid-palate and a smooth, lingering finish that cleanses the palate between courses.

That is why sommeliers like Dan McEvoy are adding it to their drinks lists, and why Gretchen is now training as a water sommelier.