If your (wine) glass is half full, get to some of these events

Join Clonakilla Wines, Dionysus Winery, The Vintner's Daughter, Four Winds Vineyard, Murrumbateman Chocolate Co and Tallagandra Hill Winery as they invite locals and visitors along the trail to enjoy wine tasting, fantastic food offerings and delightful gourmet chocolates.

Six especially curated taste experiences will showcase the talents of local winemakers and artisans and include:

Back Vintage Boogie with Clonakilla Wines: Explore the depth of world-renowned shiraz viognier through three renowned vintages.

Curries and Corks at Tallagandra Hill Winery: Spice up your day with a premium wine and food experience, featuring three curries matched with a flight of four wines.

Chocolate and Cheese tasting experience at Dionysus Winery: Discover the perfect harmony between wine and cheese or chocolate, and let the kids enjoy their own tasting with flavoured milks and chocolate.

Retro Riesling Revelry at Vintner's Daughter: Take a trip back in time with a guided tasting of sold-out riesling vintages, including the acclaimed first vintage from 2015.

Sangiovese and Sopressa Pizza at Four Winds Vineyard: Enjoy a taste of Italy with a glass of sangiovese wine and a delicious woodfired sopressa pizza.

Signature Chocolate Tasting at Murrumbateman Chocolate Co: Experience the exquisite pairing of single-origin chocolates with native Australian ingredients. Plus, explore the cafe's selection of delightful treats and handmade ice cream.

Six Canberra District wineries made The Real Review's 2024 list of "high-performing wineries" after a record tasting of more than 10,000 wines.

The Real Review is an independent panel led by highly acclaimed wine writers Bob Campbell and Huon Hooke, alongside some of the world's best wine people, from sommeliers to journalists, judges and critics.

Clonakilla was our highest ranked winery, at 54, with Collector (153), Four Winds (242), Lark Hill (251), Lerida (283) and Helm (325) also making the list. Hunter Valley based Gundog Estate, which also has a cellar door at Gundaroo, came in at 146. Only 394 wineries, out of more than 2000 wineries nationwide, made the list.

Yarra Yering won winery of the year, the second time it has won the top accolade, having also won it in 2021.

The Real Review's Australian tasting team has tasted a record number of wines for this year's list, Hooke said.

"We tasted more than 10,000 wines over the assessment period, scoring them out of 100, and using the results for each winery's best wines to come up with our top wineries list," he said.

"Our algorithm deliberately looks at two years of tasting results, so that if a winery has a less-fortunate year due to the kinds of natural events that can befall an agricultural enterprise, for example bushfire smoke taint, frost, hailstorm, drought or flood, this will not necessarily result in them missing out."

Nicole and Christophe Rebut at French Flair la Boutique, a winey tiny corner of France in Manuka's Palmerston Lane, are busy with dinners and tastings and special deals over the next month or so.

On May 31, there'll be a classic French dinner at Ondine Brasserie in Deakin with matching French wines. The menu and wines are to be announced but save the date.

If you can't wait, there are a couple of wine tastings at the Manuka shopfront, showcasing wines from the Languedoc region.

"Join us as we travel through the historic Cathare region along the Canal du Midi between Nmes and Leucate, South of Narbonne all the way to Carcassonne," Christophe says.

"This will be our last outdoor tasting event until the return of the warmer days so make sure you bring warm clothes.

"We will certainly keep you warm with mostly red wines and canapes."

Head into Such and Such for Afters, after-work drinks with a difference, on Thursday April 18.

There'll be three young winemakers on show: Lucas Woods (Luc Du Bois), Angus Raddon (Stones Grow, Vino Friendo) and Lewis Martin (Stratosphere).

Woods helped set up the wine list at Such and Such and is now working at Paranormal Wines in Campbell and has spent some time with Bryan Martin at Ravensworth. He'll be bringing his first vintage, a super light red.

Raddon is bringing a bianco, rosata and rosso, made with the help of Ravensworth and Mada wines.

And Bryan Martin, literally, had a hand in Lewis's journey (the Such and Such post called him the "heir to the Ravensworth throne"). Lewis is bringing a skin-contact vin and grenache.

Tastings are free, you can order all the wine by the glass, and bottles will be available to purchase and take home. Walk-ins only for small groups but if you'd like a bigger table contact the restaurant.

What a great way to spend a Thursday evening.