As reported in several media outlets, the wine world is currently outraged over the recent claims made by Cameron Diaz and her business partner Katherine Power about so-called "clean" wine. The current commotion was ignited when Diaz and Power launched their own brand of wine called Aveline, touting their white and rosé as "clean" wines, in contrast to unclean wines that are produced all over the world. See below for a link to a Instagram video featuring Diaz and Powers that was posted on July 9:
In the video, Diaz and Powers make a number of spurious claims about traditional winemaking techniques, stating that winemakers regularly add chemicals, sweeteners, color pigments, and a range of other additives to their wines with zero transparency to consumers. They go on to express shock that winemakers do not wash their grapes prior to fermentation, allegedly introducing pesticides and herbicides into the finished product. Later in an interview with Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show, Diaz stated that she frequently feels ill after consuming conventionally produced wines.
These are of course misleading and irresponsible claims. Most wine is in fact nothing more than fermented grapes, and washing them after harvest would strip them of the indigenous yeasts that are integral to the concept of terroir. Moreover, a majority of the additives that some winemakers choose to use such as sulfur and enzymes are completely natural and benign. Regarding the claim that a "clean" wine is one made from organic grapes grown without pesticides and minimally intervened in the winery without additives or sweeteners, there are thousands of examples of wines produced in this fashion in the world's top growing regions.
The indignation over these claims is palpable on Twitter, Facebook, and other social media platforms. For a deeper dive into the veracity of Diaz's assertions about wine, look to the following articles written by industry professionals:
Cameron Diaz is selling a ‘clean’ wine, but the term is quite muddy
Cameron Diaz’s new ‘clean’ wine Avaline meets none of the natural wine standards
The Terrible Persistence of Celebrity Wine
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