[
### Glen Ellen Star
](https://glenellenstar.com/)

### 

13648 Arnold Drive

Glen Ellen, CA 95442

Phone: +1 707 343-1384

BY ANTONIO GALLONI | MARCH 08, 2024

### The Food:

Pizza Margherita; basil, tomato, mozzarella

Simple garden greens; shallot and Dijon vinaigrette

Wood-fired whole branzino; mole dulce, sweet potatoes, broccolini, cipollini onion, chili lime butter, crispy seeds

Vanilla Maple Bourbon Affogato

**The Wine:**

2001 Kenwood Cabernet Sauvignon Artist Series 94

I was very much looking forward to this dinner at Glen Ellen Star after a long day of tastings. The restaurant is in the small village of Glen Ellen, just a few minutes north of Sonoma, in the heart of Sonoma Valley. I spent a lot of time here when we worked on our Sonoma Valley map project a few years ago. Sonoma Mountain is just behind the restaurant, while Moon Mountain is east. Being in this unique part of Sonoma County always brings back a lot of memories.

Chef/Owner Ari Weiswasser offers a Cali/Italian-inspired menu with a focus on dishes cooked in the wood-fired oven. Weiswasser worked at a number of restaurants on the East Coast before moving to California and later working at the French Laundry before opening Glen Ellen Star in 2012. There are two dining rooms, one with a small bar area and the wood stove and another larger room that is a sort of covered terrace. Reservations are essential, as the restaurant fill up quickly with both locals and visitors.

![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1709908839904-AG+VT_March072024_1.jpg)

_Pizza Margherita; basil, tomato, mozzarella_

We order the Pizza Margherita to start while contemplating the menu. It disappears so fast I am barely able to take a picture. The simple garden greens salad dressed with Dijon vinaigrette is light, refreshing and beautifully done. I then settle into the whole branzino, which is stuffed with mole dulce, sweet potatoes, broccolini, cipollini onion, chili lime butter and crispy seeds, then cooked in the wood oven. It’s a rich, heady dish full of bold flavors that are perfectly suited to a cold winter evening and red wine.

![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1709908856298-AG+VT_March072024_2.jpg)

_Simple garden greens; shallot and Dijon vinaigrette_

Glen Ellen Star has a terrific wine program, especially for a restaurant of its size. There are plenty of choices, from highly affordable bottles all the way to more lavish options, including a few older wines, some of which are very well-priced. The focus is on Sonoma and Napa, with plenty of smaller artisan producers featured. Unfortunately, the above is not a given these days, so the wine program deserves kudos.

![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1709908875794-AG+VT_March072024_3.jpg)

_Wood-fired whole branzino; mole dulce, sweet potatoes, broccolini, cipollini onion, chili lime butter, crispy seeds_

My eye is immediately drawn to the 2001 Kenwood Cabernet Sauvignon Artist Series, which is on the list for a very reasonable tariff. Over the years, I have had a chance to taste several of the Artist Series Cabernets made by Mike and Karin Lee – not as many as I would like – but enough to know this is a very special wine. According to what I have been able to gather, the Artist Series Cabernets were built on a core of fruit from Montecillo (which the Lees owned at the time) and other celebrated sites in what is now the Moon Mountain District AVA, including Chuy (today is Mid-slope).

![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1709908890795-AG+VT_March072024_4.jpg)

A dark, potent wine, the **2001 Kenwood Cabernet Sauvignon Artist Series** is packed with black fruit, gravel, incense, lavender, black olive, sage and tobacco. It’s a wine made in the style of the time, which is to say, with quite a bit of extraction and oak impact. Even so, the 2001 has aged impeccably, far better than many of the 2001 Napa Valley Cabernets I tasted in 2021 for a 20-year report on that vintage. Moreover, the 2001 Artist Series has none of the Brett issues that afflict so many other wines from Napa in that era. It’s an absolute treat to drink this from an impeccably sourced bottle.

Dessert is simple. Affogato is next to impossible to beat in my book, so affogato it is, done here with Vanilla Maple Bourbon ice cream.

![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1709908909275-AG+VT_March072024_5.jpg)

_Vanilla Maple Bourbon Affogato_

This was a fantastic dinner all around. However, I would be remiss if I did not mention a few things that readers should be aware of. Glen Ellen Star is a very expensive restaurant in its peer group. These are decidedly big city prices. Let me be clear. I don’t envy anyone in the restaurant business. I know enough to know how brutal the hospitality industry is. How long the hours are, how hard it is to find good people, how thin margins can be. So, I hope at least the staff is well compensated. I also find the addition of a 3% service charge for bills paid with credit cards to be obnoxious. This is what small service businesses do. It’s not something elite restaurants should do.

Vinous readers venturing into Sonoma County should plan on checking out Glen Ellen Star. The drive from Napa Valley is about 45 minutes, but I advise caution, especially if driving back late at night, as roads can be treacherous for those not accustomed to these rural areas.

_© 2024, Vinous. No portion of this article may be copied, shared or re-distributed without prior consent from Vinous. Doing so is not only a violation of our copyright, but also threatens the survival of independent wine criticism._



Vinous Table: Glen Ellen Star, Glen Ellen, CA

Vinous Table: Glen Ellen Star, Glen Ellen, CA (Mar 2024)

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