With wine tasting, much thought is put into getting all the elements right: the serving temperature of wine, the type of wine glass used, whether to decant a wine before serving. And when it comes to dining, food and wine pairing is an occupation all to itself.
But have you ever considered the effect water has on the palate, especially now that water menus – like wine lists – are appearing in high-end restaurants, so the terroir and provenance of a particular water can be given due consideration?
Well, Antipodes Water says the type of water you drink to cleanse and hydrate between sips of wine does indeed have an effect on the way we perceive wine. The company started in 2007 after scouring New Zealand’s natural aquifers in consultation with Kumeu River winemaker, Michael Brajkovich MW, to find the most complimentary water for wine.
To test how different types of water affect our palate, we gathered together some leading winemakers and sommeliers – including winemakers Erinn Klein of Ngeringa, Adam Foster of Syrahmi, and Matthias Utzinger of Utzinger Wines; and sommeliers Clint Fox from the Scott Pickett Group; Andrea Infimo from Marmelo and Mr Mills; Coralie Gelot from The Windsor Hotel Group; Sacha Imrie of Daughter In Law; and Katarina Lange. Award-winning wine writer and our Vineyard of the Year Awards judge, Max Allen, also joined the tasting panel.
“Where it’s from, the climate, the geography, the rocks around the underground aquifer all add to the sense of ‘terroir’.”
Our group of winemakers and sommeliers gathered at Carlton Wine Room to test how different types of water affect our palate. Opposite: Adam Foster of Syrahmi Wines and Melinda Wright from Antipodes Water. “There is no such thing as ‘the best water in the world’. Each water is unique in its flavour profile and characteristics,” Wright explained.
“Where it’s from, the climate, the geography, the rocks around the underground aquifer all add to the sense of ‘terroir’,” explained Melinda Wright from Antipodes Water.
Wright said the total dissolved solids (TDS) in water defined its level of minerality. The higher the TDS, the greater the number of minerals in the water, and the greater the ability to taste and feel these minerals on the palate.
For the water comparison, our panel tasted three waters: the Antipodes sparkling water; a bottled sparkling water from Victoria; and an Italian sparkling water. These waters were sampled alongside the 2022 Ngeringa Single Vineyard Summit Pinot Noir from Adelaide Hills. The panel would taste one water, followed by the wine, noting the changes in perception along the way.
Above, L–R: Max Allen, Clint Fox, Sacha Imrie, Katarina Lange and Erinn Kleinn. The panel would taste one water, followed by the wine, noting the changes in perception along the way.
The sparkling waters were tasted in their progression of TDS scores as declared on their company websites: with Antipodes (130 mg/L) in glass #1; the Victorian sparkling water (380 mg/L) in glass #2; and the Italian sparkling water (853 mg/L) in glass #3. Note that this was not a blind tasting.
The panel started by discussing the differences between the first two sparkling waters.
Sommelier Clint Fox opened the discussion. “The mouthfeel changes,” he noted. “The Antipodes water is a lot softer, almost silky, whereas water #2 (the Victorian water) is a little more aggressive.”
Melinda Wright said, “You talk about ‘silkyness’ with Antipodes – there is a reason for that. In water #2 the dominant minerals are things such as magnesium and bicarbonate. That’s why you’ll also get a heavier bead. With water #1, natural silica brings that silky texture.”
Winemaker Matthias Utzinger asked if there was a difference with the pH? (As wine enthusiasts know, pH is a measure of the acid or alkalinity in wine: the lower the pH level, the higher the acid; the higher the pH, the more alkalinity a wine expresses.)
Opposite: “The tannins in the wine are more accentuated after water #2,” noted winemaker Matthias Utzinger. Above: sommelier Andrea Infimo.
“Antipodes is pH neutral,” explained Wright. “The Victorian sparkling water is more alkaline.”
After tasting water #2 and trying the pinot again, sommelier Katarina Lange said: “I think the pH is more at play in the wine. The wine seems more acidic after the alkaline water.”
While sommelier Andrea Infimo thought the wine looked better with water #1, tasting the more alkaline water provided a wine-matching idea. “I think more alkaline waters would work well with whole-bunch wines because of the potassium component in whole-bunch wines. The alkalinity in the water could help mask the hard minerality of the wine’s potassium. By having a water with higher pH [lower acid; higher alkalinity], wines with lower acid could seem more balanced. But that’s just a theory,” he said.
“The tannins in the wine are more accentuated after water #2,” added Utzinger.
Winemaker Erinn Kleinn noted that the Antipodes water allowed his wine to show itself more fully – “It tastes like it has a bit more body and a bit more going on.”
“The fruit has a little more life to it,” added Fox.
Opposite: Katarina Lange and Erinn Kleinn. After tasting water #2 and trying the pinot again, Lange noted: “I think the pH is more at play in the wine. The wine seems more acidic after the alkaline water.” Opposite: Andrea Infimo and Coralie Gelot.
The panel then turned to the third water, with a TDS score (stated on the brand’s own website) of 853 mg/L – the most ‘minerality’ of the three waters.
“Chalky”, “salty” and “very textural” were common descriptors of the water’s taste from the panel, who thought the pinot noir exhibited vegetal and less fruit characters after tasting the third water.
Of sparkling waters in a dining setting, sommelier Coralie Gelot said: “I don’t like a water with a lot of minerality. It has too much taste to enhance the food and wine.”
On water #3’s impact on the perception of the wine, Andrea Infimo added, “The acids and tannins are exacerbated.”
“I liked the way water #3 played around with tannins, though,” commented Fox.
Above: Our panel gathered at Carlton Wine Room to taste three waters. These waters were sampled alongside the 2022 Ngeringa Single Vineyard Summit Pinot Noir from Adelaide Hills. Opposite: winemaker Erinn Kleinn noted that the Antipodes water allowed his wine to show itself more fully – “It tastes like it has a bit more body and a bit more going on.”
“I definitely enjoyed the wine most with water #1,” sommelier Sacha Imrie said. “I found water #3 so overwhelming that the wine didn’t reset for me.”
Wright recalled a dinner with a Spanish sparkling water with a TDN score of over 3000 mg/L. She said the saltiness of the water worked immensely well with steak – but had an equally adverse effect on the meal’s wine.
“There is no such thing as ‘the best water in the world’. Each water is unique in its flavour profile and characteristics,” Wright explained.
“If you want a wine that is fruit forward and the predominance is the fruit, then I think Antipodes is the water that works best,” concluded Infimo.
Antipodes are a supporter of Young Gun of Wine and our Deep Dives.
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We are heartbroken to hear that Peter Fraser, winemaker and general manager at Yangarra and Hickinbotham, passed away yesterday at the age of 51. This is an incredibly tragic day for Peter’s family and friends, for the teams at Yangarra and Hickinbotham and the Jackson Family Wines group, and for the McLaren Vale and broader Australian wine community. Our thoughts and condolences are with Peter’s family and friends, the teams at Yangarra and Hickinbotham, and the Jackson Family Wines group in this difficult time.
This year marks the 17th annual edition of the Young Gun of Wine Awards – created for young wine labels and winemakers on the rise. These winemakers are forming a new fabric in Australia’s wine culture and community. The annual list has become the go-to guide for drinkers looking for cutting-edge wines and the stories behind them. And now, the time has come to reveal our Top winemakers for 2023.
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