Some of the most interesting bottles in the natural wine world come from partnerships built on personal taste rather than commercial convenience. Riding Monkey + Baire Wines is one of those pairings -- a collaboration between South African-born California winemaker Dieter Cronje and Baire Wines, the Los Angeles-based import and distribution company founded by husband-and-wife team Basti and Claire, whose shared passion for natural wine has shaped a curated portfolio that crosses continents without losing its sense of purpose.
Backstory
Dieter Cronje founded Riding Monkey as a small-batch passion project in Orcutt, Santa Barbara County, making natural wines from organically farmed cool-climate vineyards while serving as the founding winemaker at Presqu'ile Winery. Baire Wines was born from Basti and Claire's conviction that natural wine -- fermented with native yeasts, produced with no or minimal sulfur additions, never fined or filtered, from producers farming organically or biodynamically -- deserved a dedicated home in the Los Angeles wine community. The two projects found common ground in a shared aesthetic and an overlapping audience of producers and drinkers who care about how wine is made.
The Region
Riding Monkey draws from the Santa Maria Valley and Alisos Canyon in Santa Barbara County, one of California's coolest wine-growing zones. Cool Pacific air funnels inland through east-west coastal valleys, creating long growing seasons with persistent fog and mild temperatures. The Baire portfolio extends across Europe -- natural wine regions in France, Italy, Spain, and beyond -- connecting Riding Monkey's California terroir to a broader natural wine conversation.
Vineyards and Farming
Riding Monkey sources from organically farmed Santa Barbara County vineyards, working with Cinsault, Chenin Blanc, Grenache, and other varieties suited to the region's maritime cool. All producers in the Baire portfolio farm following organic or biodynamic principles, making the collaboration a natural fit in philosophy as well as aesthetics.
Winemaking
Cronje uses native yeast fermentation, skin contact where appropriate, and neutral oak aging without fining or filtration. The Baire connection brings his wines into contact with a broader natural wine audience and a distribution platform aligned with his values. The approach across the collaboration is consistent: minimal intervention in the cellar, maximum honesty about the fruit.
The Wines
Under the Riding Monkey label distributed through Baire, drinkers find a small but focused range of California natural wines -- skin-fermented Chenin Blanc, Cinsault, and blended whites -- presented alongside Baire's European portfolio. The combined platform gives Riding Monkey wider visibility in the natural wine market while maintaining the small-production integrity that defines the project.
