AN OBSESSION WITH OLIVE OIL

Mediterranean smells filled Johnny's kitchen at home from an early
age: his father and grandmother had lived in Turkey. The basis for
every dish she cooked was always olive oil. For some strange reason even his first encounter with an olive tree in the South of France when he was eight left its mark on him. Even as he pondered over buying the house where he lives in the Sabine Hills it was olive oil that decided him.
"Let's buy a litre of local olive oil. If it's good we'll buy the
house, if it isn't we won't", he told his wife.

One of Johnny's most intense memories of olive oil was his first
encounter with a whole drum of it. A local farmer invited him to his
cellar where he kept his oil. Before pouring out the oil he invited
Johnny to put his head over the top of the drum and to breathe in
deeply. The smell was over-powering: this was new oil and then, as it
was poured into the demijohn, he was astonished to see how bright, almost luminous in the dark, the oil was. It was love at first sight and it is our wish that when you pour out (not drizzle!) your first oil you can have a similar experience.

After years of organising tastings, talking to producers and
presenting oils to foreigners (Johnny was invited by Slow Food to a
tasting of Sabine olive oil in London's 'La Fromagerie') Johnny has
developed a deep understanding of the olive oil world and has found
the best ones money can buy.

Just as in wine with its cabernets and its chardonnays oil has its
olive varieties which give each oil its individual character. Sabine
oils can boast at least six varieties some specific to the area:
carboncella, raja, leccino, fiecciara, frantoio, moraiolo,
pendolino... Producers selected by Johnny are well aware of this and
balance flavour by carefully dosing each cultivar.

PICKED & PRESSED
We are talking exclusively about extra virgin olive oil: oils with
an acidity way below the legal 0,7%. These are oils where the olives
are picked and then pressed immediately. The freshness of the fruit
is paramount and it can be tasted and smelled in the oil.
Nearly all the best producers in the area are bottling oil from a
single estate. The quantities are limited but the quality is
guaranteed.

The quantities are limited but the quality is
guaranteed.

OIL TASTING TOURS

Johnny has a 9 seater mini-bus and can take people on a tour of olive groves, olive presses (particularly when they are working, have their fires lit and can offer you bruschetta - toasted bread - on which to taste the freshly-pressed and explosive oil) and olive oil producers.

The trip can start or end with an olive oil tasting in Johnny's oil/wine bar in the medieval village of Casperia. In the morning tastings would be exclusively for the clients of the Tour. Whereas in the evening the wine bar is open as a wine bar. Many wines and oils are available for tasting and there is often singing...

At lunchtime we stop at Le Comare for a light and delicious lunch with Francesca Pingi with an idyllic view of Farfa Abbey. Francesca, along with her mother and boyfriend make what are probably the 3 best oils in Sabina.

Only one Englishman has worked on the tasting panel of Slow Food's Extravergini olive oil guide: Johnny Madge. His expertise is thus unique.

For more information please contact: oliveoil@johnnymadge.com