We love toasting to the best films of the year. And in honor of the 89th annual Academy Awards, I’ve put together a selection of playful libations to cheer on your favorite actors, directors, and costume designers. I called in my hubby, podcast partner, and film critic, Gary Cogill, for his picks on who the winners will be. (Some selections were sent for editorial consideration, all available at Spec’s unless noted.) For La La Land, up for 14 Oscars this year, enjoy a cocktail from another dreamer, and self-made man, Daniel E. Williams, who went from distillery worker to the head of the Tullamore D.E.W. Distillery. 2 parts Tullamore D.E.W. 2/3 part fresh lemon juice 2/3 part simple syrup Dash of Angostura Bitters Pour ingredients into a cocktail shaker without ice and dry shake vigorously. Strain into a cocktail glass. Reyka Vodka goes from Iceland to Hollywood with a cocktail toasting the glitz and glamor of the night. .5 oz Solerno Blood Orange Liqueur

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice and shake until cold. Strain into a flute, top with sparkling wine and a lemon peel. And for the beautiful people, a beautiful drink from one of the most appealing Gins available. glass of wine typesZephyr Gin layers ripe berry, melon, honey and orange blossom for an aromatic spirit.what is the best homemade wine recipe 1.5 oz. Zephyr ginbest bottle of wine for a gift 1-2 dashes of honey bittersbest wine by itself .75 ounce lemon juicedry white wine 7 letters .75 ounce simple syruptop 10 indian wine name

Mix all ingredients in a cocktail shaker filled with ice and shake. Strain into a coupe glass and garnish with a star of anise. Once the show starts, it’s time to pop some bubbly. For the third year in a row, Piper-Heidsieck returns as the exclusive Champagne served during the 2017 Academy Awards season. As the official champagne of the Cannes Film Festival for 20+ yrs as well, Piper-Heidsieck has long ties with cinema and celebrating the best of the best. Piper-Heidsieck has created a limited-edition magnum bottle to be poured exclusively at the ceremony and Governors Ball. Though the magnums are limited to the show, you can pick up a plethora of their classic Piper-Heidsieck Brut Champagne for $43. Viola Davis is a shoe-in for her role in “Fences.” To pair, Truvée Rose, created by half-sisters Robin and Andrea McBride, one of few owned and operated wineries by African American women in the country. Their Rose blends classic Rhone varieties of Grenache and Syrah, grown and produced in California, for a wine filled with strawberry, raspberry, and floral aromas.

The award will go to either Mahershala Ali for Moonlight, or Jeff Bridges for Hell or High Water. To toast Jeff Bridges, raise a glass with great Texas wine from one of the first families of wine in our state, Fall Creek. Fall Creek Terroir Reflection Series GSM blends three of Rhones favorite varieties, grown in clay and limestone Texas Hill Country AVA soils, for a savory red layered with black fruit, smoke, and black pepper. $45, at Central Market. The winner will either be Emma Stone, which increasingly seems to be the front-runner, or Natalie Portman for her moving portrayal of Jackie. For this Queen of Camelot, the Queen of Italian wines, Barbaresco. Ricossa Barbaresco, from Piemonte, Italy displays the slightly softer side of the Nebbiolo variety, especially compared to its cousin, Barolo. However the earthy red layers wild roses, berries and savory balsamic notes. The succulent, slightly tannic palate offers ripe cherry and spice. Ricossa also takes a slightly more New World approach to their wines, making them ready to enjoy upon release.

The award will either go to Denzel Washington in Fences, or Casey Affleck for Manchester by the Sea. For this best actor, the King of Italian, Barolo. The heartier cousin to Barbaresco, Barolo has earthy truffle and forest floor notes, with ripe berry, rose and espresso. Clay and limestone filled vineyards, 7 and 40 years old, produce Vietti Castiglione Falletto creating a mineral rich, tannic, complex wine. BEST FILM of 2017 La La Land is the most unique, original film we have had in years, and the front runner, but Gary also loves the thoughtful portrayal of a young African American boy through three stages of life in Moonlight. For the best film of the year, toast with Oscar-winning Director, Francis Ford Coppola, and his Coppola “Director’s Cut” Cabernet Sauvignon. The official still wine of this year’s Oscars, the classic California Cabernet Sauvignon layers of cherry, cedar spice, blackberry, and milk chocolate. Jump start your toast with an eloquent and moving reflection on marriage, love, or soul-binding.

Here are 30 quotes to ponder -- integrate the words into your own original speech ("As Shakespeare said..."; "In the words of the poet Nikki Giovanni..."), relating them to bride and groom. The idea is to get the crowd to feel the universal significance and emotional impact of the words. 1. May your love be like the misty rain, gentle coming in but flooding the river.-- Traditional African2. Insomuch as love grows in you, so beauty grows. For love is the beauty of the soul.-- St. Augustine3. We never live so intensely as when we love strongly. We never realize ourselves so vividly as when we are in full glow of love for others.-- Walter Rauschenbusch4. To love someone deeply gives you strength. Being loved by someone deeply gives you courage. Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking outward together in the same direction.-- Antoine de Saint-Exupery6. One wordFrees us of all the weight and pain of life:That word is love.-- Sophocles7. Night and day you are the one,Only you beneath the moon and under the sun.-- Cole Porter8.

At the touch of love everyone becomes a poet.-- Plato9. Love is a fire that feeds our life.-- Pablo Neruda10. Love is friendship set to music.-- Anonymous11. Marriage is like a golden ring in a chain, whose beginning is a glance and whose ending is eternity.-- Kahlil Gibran12. The strongest and sweetest songs yet remain to be sung.-- Walt Whitman13. We are each other's harvest; we are each other's business; we are each other's magnitude and bond.-- Gwendolyn Brooks14. In our life there is a single color, as on an artist's palette, which provides the meaning of life and art. It is the color of love.-- Marc Chagall15. We love because it's the only true adventure. We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for.-- John Keating, in Dead Poets Society (1989)17.

They do not love that do not show their love.--William Shakespeare18. When people care for you and cry for you, they can straighten out your soul.-- Langston Hughes19. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.-- Emily Bronte20. That love is all there is Is all we know of love.-- Emily Dickinson21. A great flame follows a little spark.-- Dante Alighieri22. There is only one happiness in life, to love and be loved.-- George Sand 23. Without love, the world itself would not survive.-- Lope de Vega24. When love reigns, the impossible may be attained.-- Indian proverb25. Love is life.-- Leo Tolstoy26. Love is a canvas furnished by nature and embroidered by imagination.-- Voltaire27. Love is a moment that lasts forever.-- Anonymous28. Love is all you need.-- John Lennon/Paul McCartney29. A good marriage is that in which each appoints the other guardian of his solitude.-- Rainer Maria Rilke30. May your dreams ride on the wings of angels who know their way home to the skies.-- Anonymous