Inside the booming business of luxury water — and what people pay for it

Would you pay $95 for water? Fine-dining restaurants are betting you will

At some high-end restaurants, diners are ordering water like it’s wine — complete with tasting notes, pairing suggestions and “no ice” rules.

Hotspots from Los Angeles to Spain now offer elaborate “water menus” and sommeliers to advise on the mineral content, acidity and “mouthfeel” of each bottle, which range in price from $11 to nearly $100, The Wall Street Journal recently reported.

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About 10 U.S. eateries now offer full water menus listing bottles like a $12 Georgian sparkling water called Borjomi and an $11 East Coast Saratoga, according to The Journal. Another favorite is Evian, from France, and Fiji, a popular dessert choice thanks to its slightly sweet aftertaste. 

Some restaurants are offering curated water menus, treating bottled water with the same care as fine wine. (iStock)

The dining room at Virginia’s Inn at Little Washington serves Berg — water sourced from a 15,000-year-old iceberg off Newfoundland, Canada — priced at $95 a bottle and said to taste like “ancient packed snow and air.”

At Gwen in Los Angeles, expert water sommelier Martin Riese said the restaurant brings in up to $100,000 a year from water sales. He instructs servers not to add ice or lemon, which he says can dull the flavor. 

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Riese and fellow H2O expert Michael Mascha, founder of the FineWaters connoisseur platform, have trained hundreds of water sommeliers worldwide since 2006, as part of a growing trend that includes extensive menus abroad, including one in Spain that offers more than 150 selections from 33 countries. 

Industry data suggests the global premium bottled water market is worth upward of $36 billion and growing roughly 7% each year.

Gwen in Los Angeles offers a curated water menu featuring bottles priced up to $95. (JC Olivera/Getty Images)

“No one would think it’s strange if you served different types of vodka at a bar, so why should it be any different for water?” Riese, who appeared in a 2014 episode of Bravo’s “Top Chef” as an expert water source, said.

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Anastasia Chovan, a Seattle-based certified water sommelier at Vivreau, a premium water filtration company, told Fox News Digital that growing interest in healthier drink options and a greater awareness of what people consume has helped open the door for the “fine water” trend.

While health-conscious members of Gen Z, who studies show are drinking less, have especially driven the movement, she said she finds almost everyone can taste the difference between tap, filtered and bottled water.

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“The secret to ‘fine water’ is the source and the type of water filter used to control the mineral content,” Chovan said. 

Luxury restaurants are offering bottles like Evian from France, Saratoga from the U.S. and Berg from Canada. (Photo by Sergi Alexander/Getty Images for Saratoga Spring Water)

“The types of minerals in the water — like magnesium and potassium — give water its taste and mouthfeel,” she added. “The mineral content of water is a factor in its ability to pair with food and wine.”

This is what makes water from the Catskill Mountains perfect for bagels, and water from the Cascade Mountains ideal for coffee, Chovan noted.

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But not everyone is going with the flow.

The trend made a splash on the subreddit r/FoodLosAngeles as users dug into Gwen’s water menu.

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“I wonder if you can bring your own Brita and they’ll decant it for you,” one person joked. “I ordered the U.S. filtered tap at Gwen and it was delectable,” another chimed in.

Experts say interest in premium bottled water is part of a wellness-driven dining movement. (iStock)

“Wait till they pull out the air menu and start charging per breath,” someone else commented.

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One supporter argued that the goal is to “bring awareness and value back to water.”