"It's Rain That Fell 4,000 Years Ago": When Prestige Waters Rival Fine Wines

Waters from Glaciers, Icebergs, or Volcanic Springs Are Making Their Way into Fine Dining Served like wines, they now have dedicated menus and specialized sommeliers.

Stemmed glasses, technical vocabulary, a panel of prestigious judges… At first glance, the scene resembles a wine tasting. But here, there are no grape varieties or wine colors: what’s being tasted is water. It comes from ancient glaciers, Arctic icebergs, or volcanic craters—and some bottles now sell for over $150 each. From April 25 to 27, the FineWaters Summit brought together players from this booming market in Atlanta for a competition featuring over 1,100 bottles from 35 countries, with participants willing to spend an average of $850 to attend.

Among the stars of the event: Fromin, a water sourced from a 15,000-year-old glacier and infused with gold flakes, and Svalbarði, harvested from icebergs north of the Arctic Circle. These waters are presented using codes borrowed from champagne and fine wines: elegant bottles, cork stoppers, meticulously designed labels.

“When I go to a party, I bring a bottle of Svalbarði and tell people: this is 4,000-year-old water. It’s rain that fell 4,000 years ago. Suddenly, no one is talking about the 50-year-old bottle of Burgundy anymore,” says Michael Macha, founder of the FineWaters Summit.

JAURE Water, a natural spring water from Swedish Lapland, was awarded the gold medal in the "Sparkling – Low Minerality" category for its "Finely Sparkling" version at the 2025 FineWaters Taste & Design Awards in Atlanta.

Water and Food Pairings?
This emerging culture closely mirrors that of wine. It involves details such as presentation, ideal serving temperature, glassware selection… and, of course, how the water pairs with food. According to Michael Mascha, “water is not just water”—it can have a terroir, just like wine. He states: “We have to consider that most people believe water is just water and has no taste.”

“A soft, low-mineral water tastes completely different from a water rich in minerals,” he explains. He distinguishes between these low-mineral waters—“soft, neutral, and light”—which can be paired “with a dish much like you would with a white wine,” and high-mineral waters, which he likens to “a full-bodied red wine.

This Tasting Ritual Comes with a New Role in the Dining Room: the Water Sommelier
Today, 250 professionals worldwide have already been trained at the Fine Water Academy, an institute also founded by Michael Mascha. There, students learn, for instance, that "a glacial water pairs well with sushi, while for a steak, one should choose a richer water, like Catalan or Delamín Froy."

Michael Mascha emphasizes that water should be served with the same care as wine. “Wine won’t taste the same if the water served alongside isn’t up to par. Water is part of the gastronomic experience too.” He advocates for greater water variety in restaurants: “If a venue offers 100 wines, it should also have at least 6 to 10 different waters.”

The problem, he says, is that water is often treated as an afterthought. “If I don’t drink wine, I’m often just given a plain glass of San Pellegrino in a basic cup,” he laments. The water market, he adds, is not yet as expansive as the wine world, where bottles range from $10 to $30,000. “We haven’t reached that scale in the water universe—yet,” he concludes.

See the original article from Le Figaro by clicking here.