🥃 Szatmár plum pálinka (Szatmári Szilvapálinka)

Szatmár plum pálinka (Szatmári Szilvapálinka) is a Hungarian EU geographical indication for plum pálinka from 64 municipalities of Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg county between the Tisza and Szamos rivers. It is made from the Penyigei and Besztercei plum varieties (other plums no more than 20 %, red plums none), and mashing, distillation, ageing and bottling are done only in this area.

The name has been protected in the EU since 23 September 2003 (eAmbrosia register, PGI-HU-02047). The area includes Tarpa, Szatmárcseke, Vásárosnamény, Kisvárda and other villages near the Tisza. According to the technical file, the alluvial soils and the climate of the Carpathian foothills, which is moister than on the rest of the Great Hungarian Plain, once allowed wild plums to take root here.

The fruit must be ripe to overripe, with no green or mouldy plums. The stones are removed and fermentation lasts 7–14 days at 18–22 °C; barrels of mash were once sealed with clay, now film or a fermentation lock is used. Then comes double fractional distillation with a copper surface or in equivalent equipment. If the pálinka is aged in wood, it is at least 3 months in barrels of up to 1000 l or 6 months in larger ones.

Strength is 40–86 % vol., methanol up to 1200 g/hl of pure alcohol; flavourings, colourings and sugar are prohibited. Young pálinka is colourless, aged pálinka yellowish or amber. Records of it date from the early 18th century: in 1807, 108 barrels of plums were distilled in Apa, and the church in Olcsvaapáti was built in 1814 on a tax on plums and pálinka. The container is glass or ceramic of up to 1 l.

Why this matters to you. «Szatmári» on the label means specific plum varieties and bottling within the area. Ageing is not compulsory here, so the colour will tell you whether a barrel was used. The producers in the file dropped the «Ágyas» variant (on a bed of fruit). The WHO reminds us that no level of alcohol consumption is safe.