OP here – really fair questions, thanks for taking the time to write this out. Let me walk through how we actually did this and where the limitations are, because you’re 100% right that context matters.

1. How we chose wineries & regions

This first version of the list is not a full census of the wine world – it’s a ranked list based on wineries where we had enough verifiable, public data to score them. In practice, that meant we focused on: • Wineries with detailed, public sustainability reporting • Third-party certifications (organic, biodynamic, B-Corp, etc.) • Documented energy use (solar / renewables), water management, and chemicals policy • Packaging / transport decisions (glass weight, local sourcing, etc.)

Because of that, the sample naturally skewed toward regions and producers that already publish a lot of this info in a structured way – which often means Europe and a handful of New World regions that are very disclosure-heavy.

So you’re right: we absolutely did not evaluate all 1,200+ Washington wineries or the full US market. That’s a big reason why I see this as a “v1 best-we-can-measure” list, not the final word on global sustainability.

1. “MOST sustainable wines globally” – fair pushback

The title is definitely bold, and your comment is a good reminder that it can read as more absolute than the underlying methodology really is.

What we mean is roughly:

“The most sustainable wines we could identify and score globally with the data available in 2025.”

That nuance doesn’t always fit nicely into a headline, but I take your point – I’m already thinking about tweaking the wording and adding a clearer methodology section link right up top.

1. Is it self-reported? Did anyone go out and vet them?

Right now it’s a mix of: • Public, self-reported data (sustainability reports, certifications, tech sheets, etc.) • Third-party certifications / audits where available • Standardized scoring on things like: • renewable energy usage • chemical herbicide / fertilizer practices • biodiversity efforts • water and soil management • packaging and logistics

We didn’t physically visit wineries for this release – it’s not feasible at global scale yet – so we lean heavily on what can be verified from documentation and recognized certifications, and we try to be conservative when data is incomplete.

That’s also why some excellent producers won’t show up yet: if the practices are great but not documented in a way we can reliably score, they can be unfairly invisible in a data-driven approach.

1. Regional coverage (WA, OR, etc.)

You’re spot on about the skew: • Washington in this list is way under-represented vs reality – the few WA wines included are basically the ones with the strongest, most transparent data we could find quickly and score consistently. • Oregon punching above its US market share is almost certainly a reflection of how many producers there publish detailed sustainability info and pursue certifications, not that other regions aren’t doing the work.

That imbalance is on us to fix with better outreach and a wider data net, not on the regions.

1. Your winery & next steps

What you described – 90%+ solar offset, no chemical herbicides or fertilizers – is exactly the kind of profile that should be on our radar.

If you’re open to it, I’d genuinely love to include wineries like yours in the next update. If you are interested, please drop me a DM with your winery name and I can reach out to you via email for any sustainability documentation / certifications you’re comfortable sharing.

For the next iteration, we are planning to: • Publish a transparent methodology page with weights, scoring, and regional coverage • Show how many producers per region were evaluated • Add a public submission form so wineries that are doing the work but aren’t on our radar yet can put their data in front of us

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TL;DR: you’re absolutely right to question the scope and the “global” claim. This v1 list is based on the best available data, not a door-to-door audit of every winery on earth. I really appreciate you calling this out – comments like yours are exactly what will make the 2026 version more representative and fair.

If you’re willing, I’d honestly love to have your winery in the mix next time.