Indigo Wines at Thirsty

A tasting of Indigo Wines at Cambridge's Thirsty & Hungry

He doesn't have spiky hair and studs, but Sam Owens is still something of a punk; the man behind Thirsty and now Thirsty & Hungry (they also serve food), he is energetic, visionary and iconoclastic.

The Thirsty empire is not just about selling drinks, but more a social way of life and bringing people together. The wine list changes regularly and is low on classics or standards; instead there is a real mixture of places, grapes, production methods and packaging.

The consistency of Thirsty is in the quality and the style, a well-made, vibrant freshness; it is a place where you go to explore rather than simply return to the same again.

The latest addition is a range of wines from Indigo, a multi-award-winning importer with a reputation as one of the UK's most interesting independent importers of quirky, artisanal wines. With a particular strength in Iberia, they champion small producers who practise low intervention approaches.

My highlights were:

Dão Branco (Alvaro Castro, Portugal)  bright and fresh Portuguese white made from indigenous varieties with zesty citrus and a  mineral finish

Soplo (Rafael Cambra, Spain) fresh, perfumed Garnacha with touch of earth and leather

Dajoar (Andreas Bender, Mosel)  off-dry with a playful sweetness that balances out the crisp acidity. This is beautifully bright and fresh, with plenty of green and yellow fruits, great intensity and grip on the mid- palate and a long mineral finish

7 Fuentes (Suertes del Marqués, Tenerife) a blend of several plots, all on volcanic soils, and its main component is the wildly aromatic Listán Negro, followed by a small amount of Tintilla (aka Trousseau), juicy and refreshing