Where to join Maggie Beer for a weekend of food and fun

Calling all fans of artisan food producer and cook Maggie Beer.

The kitchen veteran will host a weekend of gathering, cooking and feasting in the Barossa Valley later this month.

From May 22-24, guests at luxury The Louise retreat will share farmers market visits, cooking and hands-on food experiences with executive chef Sam Cooper and Beer in the region she calls home, while the Maggie Beer Foundation.

Maggie Beer’s Table for All will place her flavour-first philosophy at the centre of the experience, from a hosted welcome dinner at Appellation to a full day at the Maggie Beer Farm Shop and Eatery.

Guests will visit the Barossa Farmers Market, enjoy cooking demonstrations and shared lunches, and spend unhurried time in conversation with Beer, hearing stories from her early Pheasant Farm days to her current work as an advocate for better food in aged care.

‘We’re very proud to partner with Maggie Beer for the Table for All weekend, which brings together everything we love about the Barossa Valley: fabulous seasonal produce, generous hospitality and the simple joy of sitting around a table with like-minded fellow guests," says The Louise general manager Hannah McCormick.

"To be able to share this special weekend in the Barossa, and support our charity of choice, The Maggie Beer Foundation - helping fund vital work in improving food and dining in aged care through education and training - is incredibly meaningful for our team and our guests."

The experience can be extended with an optional cocktail masterclass at Barossa Gin Lab, created by Maggie’s daughter Elli Beer.

For more info check out thelouise.com.au.

Want to enjoy a luxury Barossa weekend with a stint as a winemaker?

Serious about wine? Love a luxury lifestyle?

The Louise, one the very best addresses in the Barossa, is launching a new winemaker event series launching in April.

Now part of the Baillie Lodges group, The Louise will kick off with the Tscharke Experience Vintage package, featuring the resort's closest neighbour, Tscharke Wines, from April 28-May 1.

Next up will be a partnership with historic family winery Yalumba over the dates of June 23-25, with the expperience to be led by chief winemaker Louisa Rose.

The Tscharke Experience Vintage package offers guests staying at The Louise the chance to be winemaker for a day.

Running during vintage, guests staying at the luxury lodge will venture behind-the-scenes and be part of the winemaking action.

Guests will join the Tscharke winemakers for hands-on, three-hour experience of vintage, which includes an exclusive tasting of the current vintage wines plus two specially selected back vintages to be sampled in the Underground Cellar.

The experience starts with a welcome drink in the winery’s Protagonist bar, before a tour of the winery where guests will witness the journey of the fruit as progresses through the winemaking process.

Guests can join in activities including tasting ferments, testing baumé and monitoring ferment temperatures.

The Tscharke Experience Vintage package may be taken over any two nights over the long weekend with an option of adding an extra night or two on either side.

The Tscharke Experience Vintage weekend coincides with the 75th anniversary of the Barossa Vintage Festival with some 75 events dotted around the Barossa over the weekend.

Becoming a winemaker in not a cheap experience.

Rates for the Tscharke Experience Vintage package start at $3,450 per couple for two night with several inclusions.

See www.thelouise.com.au.

Baillie Lodges’ Australian properties are all members of Luxury Lodges of Australia.

Barossa gem gets a polish

The Louise has long been one of the most luxurious places to stay in the Barossa - and it has just reopened with new owners and new look.

Now owned by Baillie Lodges, the new-look The Louise has been given a $3 million makeover.

Visitors to The Louise and restaurants Appellation and the new Contour (formerly three75) will be greeted by a stylish new vibe.

Designs by South Australia-based architect Max Pritchard include sweeping curved walls which open up the main lodge and offer views hills and vineyards.

There is also a lounge-cum-gallery space with deep club-style chairs.

Artworks have been commissioned from South Australian artists Emma Hack, Janelle Amos and Renee de Saxe.

 


Baillie Lodges has welcomed executive chef Asher Blackford to the helm in the kitchen, fresh from a stint at sister property Clayoquot Wilderness Lodge on Vancouver Island and formerly from flagship property Southern Ocean Lodge on Kangaroo Island.

Contour, meanwhile, features intimate booths, a counter seat bar, a menu of favourites and a list of wines, local brews and cocktails.

 


The Louise wine collection has been granted a showcase alongside the guest lounge with a timber and glass prism holds more than 800 wine bottles.

For details see https://thelouise.com.au/