Sometimes the absurdity is so great I have to check the date to ensure that it was not the April Fools joke. From CNN Money, here is an article on "water pairings" and "water tastings"
http://money.cnn.com/2014/12/09/luxury/water-pairings-sommelier/index.html?iid=HP_Highlight"The chef cares about the food, the sommelier cares about the wine, but it seems like nobody cares about the water," said Michael Mascha, a food anthropologist who wrote a book detailing the tastes and profiles of bottled water around the world. "You have 200 wines on your wine list, and you tell me still or sparkling?"
For some who say water tastings and pairings are just another elitist practice of the 1%, Mascha disagrees. He says Americans are becoming more sophisticated with their dining, and it should be expected that water gets the same attention at the table.
This is not your garden-variety bottled water, no, this is water for the discerning palate.
The water Lauquen from Patagonia would work for even the most discerning palate, and that brand is specifically for the luxury market, selling at $24 a liter.
Who knew that there was a luxury market in water? The shame of it, in my opinion, is that this exists in the same world where 783 million people do not have access to clean water at all. So it is both wasteful in terms of money, callous in the face of extreme need, and environmentally unsound to move bottled water from all over the world to places that have plenty of adequate water flowing from their taps.
Modified to add the link.