Wine to water

Emmanuelle and Stephan Jelicich celebrate success in water. Photo / Herald on Sunday

Their eyes met across a crowded screw cap factory floor. They have since married, had a child and moved out of wine into water ... Auckland-based couple, Stephan and Emmanuelle Jelicich, are passionate about the direction their new water, Deep Origin, is taking too.

It was launched late last year without a hiss or a roar. In February, Deep Origin won its first award - a silver medal for Best Packaging at the Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting 2010. Their glass (rather than plastic) packaging is part of their environmental care message. His background is in winemaking and wine packaging. Hers is in customer liaison for wine packaging in Paris, before emigrating to New Zealand.

So Stephan, what inspired a change from wine to water?

It has always astonished me that we've been serving water from other countries when we have such a good source of top quality water right here, literally under our noses. I first realised this when I was studying wine in Germany and saw how parochial the European restaurants were with everything they served.

So you've had this idea flowing in your mind for several years now?

Yes. After I sold (screwcap manufacturer) Esvin I got involved in bottle design and thought here's my opportunity to incorporate great design with a local product.

And where is the water from?

From an artesian aquifer 222m below the ground at Otakiri at the foot of the Rotoma Hills near to Whakatane.

How many variations do you have?

Still and sparkling. We're also going to do a half bottle in glass. We won't be using PET plastic because it's our ethos to be part of the solution to what happens in the environment; rather than part of the problem. The van that drops off our bottles around the greater Auckland region also picks up the empties. We ask people to put the bottles back in their wooden crates and we'll collect them and give a 10 cent refund on each bottle. We will then recycle our own bottles. The label is permanently printed which saves further waste.

What about the bottle itself?

The bottle has been created within sustainable guidelines. It is reusable and the neck label is biodegradable. Our cardboard cartons are recyclable and our wooden crates are made from sustainably-grown New Zealand pine.

How long can water last once it's bottled?

It improves and becomes softer and more delicate after two to three months. It stays pretty much constant until it loses its seal if, somehow it's knocked on the top. We put a use-by date of two years but we would be happy with five.

What was the biggest challenge of starting a bottled water business?

Securing a water source that we liked and that went well with wine. We wanted one with a low CO2, which means quite a small bubble. There are limited options because there are only some waters you can take directly from underground and bottle without going through treatments. A lot of waters have high nitrogen due to farming, ecoli or other contaminants.

Explain the bubbles - why does size matter?

If people are having a meal and the water has large bubbles, it gives a bloated feeling like indigestion, which hampers enjoyment. Fine bubbles reduce the acidity of water. In sweet drinks that doesn't matter because the sweetness balances big bubbles but water doesn't have sweetness to counteract that.