Spirit Style

Țuică is the country's leading spirit: a plum brandy, usually distilled once, mild enough to be drunk before a meal. Țuică de Argeș exemplifies this gentle style, since its still completes a short run that preserves the plum's sweetness.

Țuică Zetea de Medieșu Aurit is the plum brandy of Satu Mare County, registered independently alongside Țuică de Argeș. Separate names in the register mean separate rules for raw material and method, even if the difference in the glass is subtle.

Horincă de Cămârzana shows more power. It's distilled twice, fermented in wood and matured in oak, tasting of plum with a narrow bitter edge from the stones. Pălincă is typically double-distilled and can be made from plums, pears, apples or apricots. It shares a name with Hungary's Pálinka in sound alone, not in rulebook, since Hungarian Pálinka follows its own separate regulations.

On the other side stands Vinars, the wine distillate. Legally, the EU classifies it among wine distillates, not as Cognac, and not automatically as a wine brandy, since wine brandy requires oak maturation. Vinars Târnave embodies the wood-driven style, which the house of Jidvei describes as resting at least five years in barrel. Comparing Țuică and Vinars reveals the difference between fruit and vine: here the rounded plum, there dried fruit and vanilla.

For those who want a quick guide: Țuică is the mild plum brandy for the start of a meal, while Pălincă and Horincă are the more powerful, double-distilled spirits of the northwest. Vinars belongs to a different family altogether, the wine distillates. Between these lie countless shades, since every distiller brings their own still and their own personal touch.