Puglia produces forty percent of Italy's olive oil, and the limestone plains surrounding Ostuni hold some of the Mediterranean's oldest productive trees — gnarled specimens dating to the sixteenth century, their trunks hollowed by centuries of harvest yet still fruiting each autumn. The masseria, a fortified farmhouse unique to southern Italy, served simultaneously as residence, warehouse, and defensive structure during periods when Saracen raids and feudal disputes made the countryside treacherous. Today the region's working masserias anchor a network of small-scale producers who harvest by hand, press within hours of picking, and bottle oil with acidity levels below 0.3 percent — well under the 0.8 threshold for extra virgin designation. Masseria olive oil tastings in Ostuni offer access to production methods unchanged since the eighteenth century. Many estates maintain subterranean mills carved directly into the tufa bedrock, where stone wheels once turned by mule now stand preserved alongside hydraulic presses introduced in the 1950s. The underground chambers held a dual purpose: constant cool temperatures protected fermenting oil from oxidation, while their concealed location safeguarded valuable stores from bandits. Visitors descend narrow stone stairways into vaulted rooms lit by narrow shafts, the air thick with the mineral scent of damp limestone and residual oil. The cultivars grown here — Ogliarola, Cellina di Nardò, Coratina — yield oils with distinct profiles. Ogliarola produces a mild, almond-forward oil suited to delicate fish; Coratina delivers peppery intensity that coats the throat. Professional tastings follow a ritual: oil is warmed in cupped palms, inhaled for green or fruity notes, then sipped and aerated across the tongue to assess bitterness and pungency. The cough that follows a mouthful of fresh Coratina — a rasping tickle in the back of the throat — signals high polyphenol content, the antioxidant compounds that distinguish cold-pressed oil from industrially refined product. Several masseria ostuni olive oil tasting tours pair mill visits with orecchiette workshops, the hand-shaped pasta native to Puglia. Dough is rolled into ropes, cut into coins, and dragged across a wooden board to form the characteristic concave discs. The pasta's ridged surface and cupped interior are engineered to trap sauce — in this case, raw olive oil mixed with crushed tomato and wild arugula. The workshops take place in stone kitchens where copper pots hang from beamed ceilings and marble counters retain the coolness necessary for pasta work even in summer.