CityMag Calls It: Carribie Is the Best Water in the World

*Published in InDaily CityMag, 25 June 2026*

South Australia has long worn its tap water reputation as a reluctant badge of honour. So it is a particular kind of irony that the Yorke Peninsula — that quiet stretch of coastline at the bottom of the Gulf — is now home to what independent experts are calling some of the finest water on earth.

This week, InDaily's CityMag featured Carribie in a piece exploring our journey from a quiet discovery on the property near Daly Head to the international stage. The article captures something we have believed for a long time: that what lies beneath this land is genuinely extraordinary.

A Discovery Two Decades in the Making

Owners Damien and Gretchen Smith first encountered the aquifer on their Yorke Peninsula property roughly twenty years ago. The water was unlike anything they had tasted — a distinctive sweetness, a creaminess, a quality that moved across the palate in a way that Damien, drawing on more than two decades in the wine industry, could only describe through the language of fine wine.

An independent engineer brought in to assess the source called it a unicorn. Pristine in character. Singular in its mineral profile. Almost nothing else like it in the world.

The reason, as the article explains, lies in the land itself. Sea spray carried in from the coast filters down through ancient marine sands and limestone over centuries, concentrating minerals and producing a natural balance that is difficult to replicate and impossible to manufacture.

Recognised on the World Stage

Earlier this year, Carribie was presented at the Fine Water Summit in Montreal — the annual gathering of the world's foremost water sommeliers and fine water professionals. The result: a perfect score of 100 points for our still water, and 99 points for sparkling.

These are not marketing numbers. They are the considered judgements of people who taste water for a living, applied to a product that had only been on the market for a matter of months.

Coming to Adelaide's Best Tables

The CityMag piece also notes that some of Adelaide's most respected restaurants are moving to stock Carribie, including 2KW, Hentley Farm, Esmay and Restaurant Botanic. The Smelly Cheese Shop at Adelaide Central Market is also expected to carry the water.

Carribie has also been selected as the principal water for the Masters of Wine Symposium, to be held in South Australia in April 2027 — a fitting alignment between two expressions of place and provenance.

What Comes Next

Distribution is expanding into Singapore, Thailand and Italy. A subscription model is in development for those who want consistent access to the best South Australia has to offer. And Carribie remains committed to a single principle that has guided the brand from the beginning: it will never be sold in plastic.

Read the full CityMag feature at https://www.indailysa.com.au/citymag/food-drink/2026/06/25/best-in-the-world-sa-brand-ready-to-make-a-splash-overseas