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Your Own Personal Olive Oil Guy

The only way to buy real olive oil is to know who made it. So let me introduce you.

If you want the best olive oil, you have to buy it directly from the source. Let me connect you, and I’ll save you money on shipping from Italy as well.

David Dellanave
Meet the oil Read my story
Olio del Cardinale on a rustic wooden shelf beside a photograph of freshly harvested olives

From grove to table

Three steps. Everyone has a name.

  1. 01

    Luigi grows & mills

    An award-winning Umbrian producer working with a deliberately limited supply.

  2. 02

    David imports

    Think of me as your own private olive oil guy.

  3. 03

    You enjoy

    Priced to pour freely, cook with, and use every day.

Trust and authenticity

If you don’t know who made your oil, the price tells you almost nothing.

Luigi and David in conversation in Umbria
Luigi and David in conversation, Umbria.

The simple fact is that unless you know or trust who you are getting your oil from, there's a good chance you're getting ripped off. How much you pay for the bottle is meaningless. I've tasted $80 bottles at boutique food stores that aren't fit to burn in a lamp. I've also tasted oil over $100/liter that is wonderful oil, but by no means worth paying that much for.

Luigi Tega is one of Italy’s most highly regarded olive oil producers, who has won countless awards. He has been a dear family friend for over six decades, and someone I have known personally for over 30 years.

I import this oil because I wanted my friends to have access to it, and I buy it directly from the source.

You can get this oil because I know Luigi—and now you know me.
Olio del Cardinale, 750 milliliters

Objectively high quality

The numbers are exceptional, but the flavor is what matters.

Luigi's Olio del Cardinale is a blend of four olives: the Moraiolo, Frantoio, Leccino, and Pendolino. They're grown in olive groves in the hills between Assisi and Spoleto at 250-280 meters above sea level.

But how is such a high quality achieved? The key is milling the olives within 24 hours of harvest by a state-of-the-art continuous all-stainless cold extraction system.

For thousands of years olive oil production was dominated by the venerable press, literally squeezing the oil out of the olives under intense pressure. You may have heard or seen the term “first cold pressed” on a bottle of olive oil. Well, the problem is that there is really no such thing as cold pressing.

The reality is that any pressing creates friction, heat, and greatly increases oxidation. Even worse the woven mats, known as fiscoli, that are used to trap the olive paste can introduce musty defects to the oil as well as chemicals if they've been cleaned and reused. It's outdated, antiquated technology that no serious olive oil producer uses anymore.

Olive varieties
Moraiolo, Frantoio, Leccino, and Pendolino
Elevation
250–280 m
Acidity
<0.2%
Polyphenols
>400mg/kg
Independent proof

The result is an olive oil with an extraordinarily high quality with polyphenol numbers that are off the charts and perfect scores in all the metrics. To be officially classified as extra virgin olive oil, the acidity level must be less than 0.8%, while Cardinale comes in at 0.2%.

While measurements and analysis are important, they are not enough. Olive oil can pass objective analysis and not even be fit to eat, which is why by law it must also pass human tasting panels to be considered extra virgin. Even a single defect means it is not extra virgin. You will be stunned the first time you taste the difference, and you’ll wonder why you’ve been missing out for so long.

Luigi’s olive oil will be the best olive oil you have ever tasted.

Value for everyday cooking

Pour it with your elbow held high.

In Italy, we say that olive oil should be poured with the elbow held high.

Olio del Cardinale is not a finishing touch reserved for special occasions. It is an oil of exceptional quality, at a price that you can, and should, use for cooking every day: eggs, pasta, bread, soup, vegetables - you name it. When you cook with it, the flavor makes or breaks the food. It is one of the most fundamental ingredients in your kitchen.

Most imported olive oil passes through brokers, importers, distributors, and retailers before reaching you. Each middleman adds another markup.

This oil takes a much shorter path:

Because I buy directly from Luigi and consolidate the freight from Italy, I can offer an oil that would ordinarily cost much more. At roughly a dollar per tablespoon, it is good enough for your best meal—and affordable enough for Tuesday-night vegetables.

“Don’t measure the pleasure.” — David’s Father, Gabriele

The current harvest

A great oil should be used, not rationed.

750ml Olio del Cardinale
Cardinale

750ml Olio del Cardinale

EVOO

$40.00
250ml Agrumato al Limone
Limone

250ml Agrumato al Limone

EVOO & Sorrento Lemon

$15.00
Quarterly subscription

Keep the good oil coming.

Repeat this order every 3 months and never worry about running out, save on shipping with 50% off.

Change quantities or cancel at any time, shipping is 50% off for all future subscription orders.
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Imported directly from Umbria. Ships from sunny Minnesota.