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Actress and author Cameron Diaz joins forces with entrepreneur Katherine Power to create a new clean wine brand—now appearing at your local Hy-Vee.
Cameron Diaz debuted as the iconic jazz singer, Tina Carlyle—Jim Carrey’s memorable love interest in The Mask—at only 21 years old. Her beauty instantly grabbed audiences, but it was her comedic timing and chops for playing opposite his huge personality that proved she had Hollywood staying power.
In one fell swoop she moved from Seventeen magazine cover and product model to the big screen. Since, she’s starred alongside other box office icons, including Drew Barrymore, Tom Cruise, Matt Dillon, Ashton Kutcher, Jude Law, Julia Roberts, Ben Stiller and Kate Winslet. Her work earned nominations for awards from the Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild.
In 2013, Diaz wrote the first of her two books on health and wellness, The Body Book, followed by The Longevity Book (2016), both New York Times Best Sellers. A few years later, she stepped away from acting to refocus her life on new endeavors, such as launching the clean wine company, Avaline.
The decision to enter the wine making world came after an aha moment for Diaz and LA-based fashion-brand entrepreneur, Katherine Power while they sipped wine in a sun-dappled backyard. “We really bonded over the fact that we love to entertain and drink wine at home,” says Diaz, who shares Power’s passion for healthy living and eco-friendly products.
“We realized that, while we had switched over to eating organic and using clean skin care, we had no idea what kinds of ingredients were being used in the wines we had been drinking,” says Diaz.
– Cameron Diaz
I looked to simplify and remove harmful chemicals from my life and wanted to learn more about what is added to the products I use on a regular basis—a glass of wine being one of them.”
The two formed Avaline, a new line of wines created from organic grapes and transparent practices. “We were aligned from the very beginning about the kind of wines we wanted to bring into the world. All we wanted was to create wines we would drink ourselves, that measured up to our standards for taste, ingredients and accessibility,” says Diaz.
The mission—to champion new cleaner standards in the wine industry—was set.
Diaz says, “I looked to simplify and remove harmful chemicals from my life and wanted to learn more about what is added to the products I use on a regular basis—a glass of wine being one of them.”
Power says she and Diaz had switched to clean wines but found it very hard to find and identify them.
Making their wines accessible and affordable was a goal.
“We love Hy-Vee’s customer-first approach and how well-versed in wine their employees are. They are an excellent resource for our consumers and do a fantastic job breaking down those barriers when it comes to buying wine,” Power says.
– Cameron Diaz
I think the most impressive thing we learned was that the style of winemaking we wanted to do—low intervention and simple winemaking —was similar to the values that have been held by many winemakers for generations.”
– Cameron Diaz
We were totally new to all of it, but we had a really clear idea of what we wanted from the whole process and it ended up being about asking the right questions.”
When Diaz and Power started Avaline they had to literally learn the business from the ground up. While they live in California, the top wine producing region in the country, their research into organic growing practices took them to Europe.
“I think the most impressive thing we learned was that the style of winemaking we wanted to do—low intervention and simple winemaking—was similar to the values that have been held by many winemakers for generations,” Diaz says.
Some of the vineyards Avaline works with have been family run for centuries throughout Europe. One Spanish winery has been creating wine since 1497 and is still plowed by horse rather than tractor. And one of the French wineries grows chickpeas to serve as a natural source of nitrogen for the grape vines.
“We were totally new to all of it, but we had a really clear idea of what we wanted from the whole process and it ended up being about asking the right questions,” Diaz says. “We spent a lot of time educating ourselves and learning from people who have been doing this their whole lives.”
To soak in all the new information, Diaz says, “we just stayed open-minded and never let ourselves think we might know more about it than these wonderful people around us.”
To help demonstrate their commitment to producing clean wine and their desire for transparency, Power and Diaz insisted Avaline labels include ingredient and nutrition information, not typical for wine labels. Power says, “When you’re walking through a grocery store and have concerns about the ingredients, you check the ingredient list. It’s one of the only options you have to make an informed decision. We wanted Avaline to fit into that system.”
Power’s experience building clean brands in clothing and beauty industries helped navigate this new arena. “When we started translating that idea to wine, we had a lot of surprised reactions to it. It was such a new concept to the alcohol and beverage world, so the challenge was educating people on what it means to be clean wine,” she says. Diaz says everyone drinks wine differently and, while the ingredients are important, having access to great wines leads to people being able to get together and make memories.
“It’s not enough to simply create a wine that is delicious, clean and measures up to these high standards. It needs to be accessible and fit into many different lifestyles,” says Diaz.
They want Avaline wines to be for everyone, so developing styles that are approachable in terms of price and drinkability, as well as attainability, was really important to them.
“Our goal is to keep expanding, and our partnership with Hy-Vee is helping make Avaline much easier to find. We don’t want any of our customers to have to make a special trip out of the way to get their hands on the wines they love,” says Diaz.
Raised in California, Diaz was spotted by a photographer at a party when she was 16. He offered to help her land modeling work, and within days she was contracted by Elite Model Management and was soon modeling for Calvin Klein, Coca-Cola and Nivea, and made the cover of Seventeen, at age 17. Four years later she debuted opposite Jim Carrey in the comedy, The Mask.
Her acting career has spanned over 20 years and she’s received numerous accolades, including four Golden Globes, three Screen Actors Guild Awards, and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 2014 Diaz appeared in Annie and has since stepped away from the limelight. In a 2020 interview, Diaz described her time away from Hollywood as an “intermission” rather than a retirement.
Cameron Diaz
Here are a few of Diaz’s career achievements:
1994
The Mask
LA-based entrepreneur Katherine Power began her career as a production assistant with Touchstone Pictures. She skipped the expected college track and instead focused on working, later becoming co-founder of Versed Skincare and MERIT Beauty, and co-founding a fashion- and beauty-brand business, Who What Wear, with fashion-journalist, Hillary Kerr.
Power connected with Diaz through her friend and Diaz’ sister-in-law, Nicole Richie, and the two quickly found their similar world view and desire for eco-friendly wines made a good partnership. “Avaline was developed from a personal desire to drink wine made from organic grapes and little else,” says Power. “You have apparel brands using recycled fabrics and mitigating waste through packaging and offsetting their carbon footprint. There is sustainability throughout the supply chain, and every brand’s ingredients have gotten cleaner when it comes to beauty,” says Power. Translating safer practices to the wine business is the next step. “Once we do that, it’s an obvious choice, because who doesn’t want the healthier option, if it tastes just as good, if not better.”
Katherine Power
1997
My Best Friend’s Wedding
1998
There’s Something About Mary
2000
Charlie's Angels
1999
Any Given Sunday
2001
Shrek
2006
The Holiday
2005
In Her Shoes
2011
Bad Teacher
The Green Hornet
2014
The Other Woman
Annie
2013
Writes New York Times Best Seller, The Body Book
2016
Writes New York Times Best Seller, The Longevity Book
2020
Launches Avaline Wine
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