Pálinka 1.0 / Agárdi Pálinka Distillery
Meet the people behind the Pálinka 1.0 - an interview with the Agárdi Distillery's internationally-recognized, award-winning Master Distiller Tibor Vertes.
If an epicentre of the Hungarian pálinka industry exists, a model of excellence to which Hungarian distilleries can benchmark themselves against, then it is certainly the Agárdi Pálinka Distillery. The enterprise was founded in 2001 and born out of the successful collaboration of two good friends, László Szabó and Tibor Vértes, who have been running the business together ever since. László is in charge of Sales and Marketing, while Tibor is the Master Distiller. At the prestigious international 2009 Destillata awards held in Vienna, Agárdi virtually swept the board. Tibor Vertes won the "Distiller of the Year" prize, while Agárdi Distillery also scooped the best international and Hungarian distillery gongs. We caught up with world champion distiller, Tibor Vértes, to learn more about Agárdi's amazing rise to prominence.
Bortársaság
How did the enterprise start? And why pálinka?
Tibor Vértes
The first time I drank a fruit brandy (also known as eau-de-vie or schnapps) that didn't make me shiver was in Austria.
Even more, in those spirits I was able to encounter a really clean fruity nose and flavour. My astonishment was followed by myself falling in love with it. That's when my passion for distilling pálinka started. I began to train myself professionally, started going to tastings and seminars and in the meantime, while still in Austria, I launched a small distillery.
Together with my friend Laci (short for László), we decided to bring home the same quality that we experienced over the border.
That's how we became the early birds of the premium pálinka story, challenging ourselves to produce high quality pálinka without compromise.
Bortársaság
The still in operation looks stunning. Peeping through the window we can see something that would appear to resemble nuclear fission, whereby in the seething heat, flickering bits of fruit turn into pálinka. What do we need to know about this complex structure?
Tibor Vértes
It's a modern steam-heated twin still. It's exactly the same as the one we had before, except for its size. We really had to extend our production capability. Our distillery is characterised by total cleanliness, order and discipline. You can't make high-end pálinka any other way. Just like in a modern winery, we have to be scrupulous about hygienic conditions in order for the consumers to get perfect aromas and technologically impeccable pálinka in their glasses.
Bortársaság
What is the output of the distillery itself?
Tibor Vértes
Currently we produce 110,000 bottles of pálinka annually. The necessary investments for stepping up our output have almost been fully implemented. We have expanded our distillation capability and enlarged our ageing and storage capacity. This way, the upper limit of our production has increased to 140,000 bottles a year. There are no plans for further expansion in order to increase our capacity beyond that. This is the size at which I can still oversee the operation without problems arising and can still check the procedures are fully adhered to.
Bortársaság
According to local stories, there've been trucks piled up high with fruit that you sent back to the farmers from Agárd because the quality didn't come up to the standard previously agreed. How do you select the fruit?
Tibor Vértes
Indeed, this happened on a few occasions. Even worse than that, in the beginning we had to conceal the fact that we needed the fruit for pálinka in order to avoid being delivered the poorest quality fruit. Fortunately, this isn't the case any more. I've travelled around the country to seek out the right, quality-conscious partners. Now, we are working with reliable suppliers, who look after their fruit according to our agreement and deliver the crop intact. In the case of new suppliers, I always speak to the producer in person as besides the excellent quality of the fruit, it's also important that we get along personally as well.
Bortársaság
Are there any secret experiments going on in the pálinka making?
Tibor Vértes
The Agárdi Pálinka Distillery has always been characterised by innovative thinking. We've been in constant contact with the Food Science department of the Agricultural University. The students take part in several experiments with us, in which we test varieties, enzymes, yeasts and production sites. This is very exciting work which helps us refine the quality and further strengthen the Agárdi Pálinka brand.
Bortársaság
I seldom have the opportunity to speak to a world-champion, but you are indeed one. What has changed since being named Distiller of the Year?
Tibor Vértes
It means even more attention and responsibility, which gives me constant motivation to do quality work. But if you meant it as a trick question, disguising your question to refer to our sales figures, then all I can say is thank you, we are doing fine.
2010. january 26.
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