Italian Olive Oil Review: The Peppery Difference

My visit with Louie and Tina at their house. I learned about how they got started on this olive oil journey.

Cover photo by Joanna Kosinska

*There is a special discount code at the end of this story*

The Search for Better Olive Oil

The Tesoro olive oil was the best I ever had. The bottle to the right is an organic version from the same producer.

Turns out as I was writing this and pulling the links to from the website, I just placed an order for the Tesoro olive oil. I had to wait 9 months as the farm had issues with shipping internationally. Now that it is back in stock, it will be in my pantry within the week😊.

My journey to get to these high quality, Italian olive oils didn’t come overnight. This was a long process where I didn’t realize what I was missing until we found Madge & Louie’s.

Like many of you, I started out with the olive oil and vinegars that were in the local supermarket and then would buy in bulk when we went to the local wholesale club. From there, we started purchasing olive oil and vinegars from those specialty stores that pop up in the highly popular tourist areas, which for me was in Boston and Newport, RI. Over time, while we were seemingly happy with the olive oils, the vinegars just didn’t taste like what we would get in a nice restaurant.

The Love of Italian Olive Oil

One day a few years back, we participated in a virtual pasta making class from a great local Italian restaurant in the Worcester, MA area called Volturno. As a part of the pasta we picked up, they shared a small sample of some olive oil. We loved their food (they were the first pizzeria in Massachusetts certified by the Associazione Vera Pizza Napoletana and I figured they had to use some quality ingredients to make the food that good. I decided to give them a call, and they put me in touch with Louie.

The Rooted & Refined Living Expert Tip: 

"Embrace the peppery finish. Take a moment to drink a small amount of the olive oil by itself. That distinct sensation at the back of your throat is sensory proof that you are tasting authentic, high-quality olive oil."

Here is where it got interesting. I sent Louie an email asking for a vinegar recommendation and he asked for my phone number to give me a call. From there, we spoke for about 30 minutes with him asking me all sorts of questions around what I was using it for (ie. cooking, salads, bread dipping). We also talked a lot about olive oils during the conversation with Louie asking me questions which led to me buying a few. In addition, Louie also sent me a bunch of small samples to try.

This olive oil changed my life in so many ways from feeling better to being the basis for my TEDx Talk.

During the conversation, we also spoke about the benefits of olive oil, specifically some of the olive oils that have a very high polyphenol count like Azienda Agricola Le Tre Colonne 1000+ Olisir. While I am not a medical doctor and would encourage you to do your own research, polyphenols help reduce inflammation in the body. This led me to ultimately give it a try. Taking a tablespoon a day, I felt about 10 years younger in about 2 weeks as my body felt so much looser. I even did a TEDx Talk on it called How Drinking Olive Oil and Curiosity Changed My Life.

Meeting Louie and Tina

Yesterday (at least at the time of writing this), I had a unique opportunity to meet Louie and his wife, Tina. Tina and Louie run the importing, and Johnny Madge finds the farms/producers. Louie and Tina live about an hour away and I made a special visit to meet them. They were nice enough to have me visit them at their house, which is where they run the business.  It was so much fun. I was like a kid in a candy store. Getting to meet Louie and Tina and learn a bit more about their business, how they got started, and even sampling some of their vinegars was a treat to say the least.

We first had a tour of the operation. The olive oil is stored in a special temperature-controlled room in the basement with dehumidifiers running constantly. Louie also shared details like purchasing high quality shipping boxes to ensure the product is delivered without damage.

What a perfect way to end the story with some Italian olive oil for dipping!

We then walked upstairs to his kitchen where we talked about how they got started. They were on their honeymoon in Italy and the local Innkeeper shared that they should go down to the local olive oil and wine bar run by Johnny Madge. It was at this point in time when the business idea struck and two years later, they were in business. Johnny himself recently got married and moved to Spain where he opened an olive oil and wine bar in Valencia, Spain. He now operates "day" tours in Spain and continues to do week-long tours with Tina and Louie when "Madge and Louie’s" hit the road "off the beaten path" to various locations throughout Italy. Johnny Madge Farm2Table Tours Italy (TripAdvisor).

Picture of our vinegar tasting in Louie and Tina's house. My favorite was Caterina Balsamic Vinegar.

Louie and Tina then offered to do a vinegar tasting with some samples they received from one of their vendors, plus a few of the vinegars I was familiar with and purchased before. After tasting 7 different vinegars, I am happy to say I really liked the one I currently use, Caterina Balsamic Vinegar. The great thing about tasting good quality vinegar is that it doesn’t make your head spin around from the bite. These vinegars are smooth and were very enjoyable.

Circling back to the Tesoro olive oil. Louie shared with me that the same producer makes wine as well. Once I try it and if it’s as good as I hope, I will share a story on that as well.

Elevating Everyday Cooking

Fast forward to today, I have a pantry full of these olive oils and vinegars, and it elevated our cooking, salads, and bread dipping. My wife shared with me that this was her favorite of all my purchases. It’s also probably the one that I have spent the most money on since we started a few years ago.

And do yourself a favor, ask Louie for some product recommendations. 

Hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Start Your Own Olive Oil and Vinegar Sensory Experience

If you’re curious to start your own Olive Oil and Vinegar sensory experience, I’ve listed my favorites below. Give a few a try and let me know your thoughts in the comments!

For Transparency: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. If you purchase through them, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend products I truly love and use myself.