Category: Vodka
Restaurant: Nora's Italian Cuisine, Las Vegas
Creator: Adam Giles
Inspiration: "Nora's is known for its craft cocktails and its tasteful selection of wine, so we created a white wine-inspired cocktail that is approachable for wine drinkers as well as those seeking a unique cocktail."
Key Ingredients: Absolut Citron vodka infused with thyme and lemon grass, Carpano Bianco vermouth, Tintero Moscato d'Asti, coriander seed, green grapes, lemon juice, lemon bitters and egg white
Price: $12
What the Judges Said: This cocktail, with a name that means "grapes" in Italian, might seem like a lot of work to make a cocktail that tastes like wine, but it's mostly batched in advance and served from a keg. When the drink is ordered, Giles pours three ounces of the batched cocktail from the tap, adds egg white, shakes it, pours it into a coup and floats the Moscato d'Asti on top. Okay, it's a fair amount of work, but the result is worth it, reminiscent of an herbaceous, effervescent northern Italian wine, but one with a serious wallop of alcohol.
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