Like many organic foodies who aim to be knowledgeable about what they eat, Cameron Diaz and friend Katherine Power would often wash down their organic goodies with wines they knew nothing about.
But as Diaz told the Vegetarian Times earlier this month, “As focused as we were on wellness and ensuring we knew the contents of everything that went in and on our bodies, we realized how much there was to learn about wine.”
Fine wine’s haughty reputation often obscures the fact that producers can and do add preservatives and stabilizers that not only affect the taste but include animal byproducts that many vegetarian or vegan wine lovers wouldn’t suspect.
Among legally-allowed substances used in winemaking are animal-derived products, including casein, egg whites, and protease.
But unlike the increasingly consumer-demanded displaying of ingredients in the food industry, the wine industry has less oversight. They aren’t forced to include how grapes are grown or which additives are used in the winemaking process on their bottle labels.
And so began Diaz and Power’s wine brand, Avaline.
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Diaz has become almost as famous for her wellness gospel, spread over two books and her popular blog, as her acting. And Power is the founder of environmentally friendly beauty products brands, Merit and Versed. So they figured they’d take up the cause of creating vegan “clean wines” created from organic grapes.
“Once we gained some perspective, we completely changed the way we drank, and we wanted to share this insight with as many people as possible.”
As any organic wine hunter knows, finding organic wine -- forget if it’s actually good -- is a hard task. Diaz says that was part of the inspiration for Avaline too.
“We wanted anyone to be able to grab it at their grocery store before heading to a barbecue or a friend’s house.”
While vegan knowledgeable and branding pros, neither woman had experience actually growing wine. So Avaline works with established vintners in California and Spain to produce the line.
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“We believe that starting with organically farmed grapes is the most important step in making delicious clean wine,” said Diaz. “Our wines are certified organic by the governing body where the wine is made: the Competent Body of Catalonia and Bureau Veritas Certification. This guarantees that they are never farmed with harsh synthetic pesticides.”
The term “clean wine” can be problematic, criticized as mostly a marketing term, the way “organic” is sometimes loosely used with food products. Critics have pointed out that Avaline does use clarifying ingredients like pea protein and cream of tartar, which helps prevent crystal formation in the bottle.
But the Avaline co-founders counter that critique by confirming their vegan standards and being as upfront as possible with their ingredients.
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“We never use any unnecessary additives and are always transparent about exactly what our wine is made with because you don’t need many ingredients to make great wine,” Diaz says. “Each of our ingredients is carefully considered and can be found on our website as well as rolling out on our bottles.”
Aside from maintaining their standards, the brand is continuing to expand grape options too, recently offering their first sparkling rose, a summer favorite.
“Like all of our wines, the sparkling rosé is made with organic grapes, vegan, and free of unwanted extras like colors and concentrates,” said Power. “Our new wine is sold in easy-to-carry (and even easier to drink) half-bottles that you can pour, sip, and enjoy all summer long.”
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