are they crazy?

CultureMap Wine Guy Chris Shepherd reveals the wine den serving up possibly the craziest pricing in Houston

Lees Den Wine Guy Wednesday Chris Shepherd

Our Wine Guy discovered that the entire wine list at Lees Den isn't actually marked wrong.

Photo courtesy of Lees Den

Editor's note: Long before Chris Shepherd became a James Beard Award-winning chef, he developed enough of a passion for wine to work at Brennan's of Houston as a sommelier. He maintains that interest to this day. When Chris expressed interest in writing about wine-related topics for CultureMap, we said yes.

In this week's column, he shares his favorite spot for drinking bottles of wine at deep discounts. Take it away, Chris.

Man, have I got a spot for you! A few months back I was asked by CultureMap food guru Eric Sandler if I would write up the nominees for the Tastemaker Award nominees for Wine Program of the Year. Most of them I knew pretty well but a few places were new and I hadn’t been yet.

So I got on the interweb of knowledge and took a gander at some of the programs. All of these wine lists are, in my opinion, award-winning. They are thoughtful, some small, some big, but all of them bad ass.

One really caught my eye, and I couldn’t believe it — so I had to experience it for myself firsthand. Are you ready to drink killer wines at absolutely killer prices? I thought the whole list was marked wrong. To my happiness, it wasn’t.

Enough suspense. Get your ass to Lees Den! I feel like I am taking advantage of the situation by ordering the things that I feel are underpriced, but that’s the entire list!

Chrisanna Shewbart is the general manager and wine director. She has assembled just an outstanding variety of things which you can drink on site or take to go. I would say sit back, relax, order something delicious from the wine list. Then hit the food menu, which is also delicious.

I haven’t seen Comte Lafond Grande Cuvee 2020 in so long. It’s freaking delicious, and at $65, I want more! Even better, it’s in this pirate-looking bottle that makes it just plain fun. Order two and start pillaging!

Let’s dive more deeply into this list now. It’s divided into styles. When it comes to delicious bubbly, Lees Den offers method Champenois and Ancestrial (think pet net and such). Then come the rosés, followed by orange (skin-fermented whites), then whites divided by style — crisp, light, and full. Then the light, medium, and full reds. You will know many of these labels, and you should ask about those you don’t.

Here are a few things that I want to drink. If you drink it all before I get there, I will know it’s you! For the bubbly world, here are some of my favorites:

Soter Mineral Springs Brut Rose, 2018 for $85
Ruinart Grand Cru Blanc de Blanc , NV for $90. Both for me, hands off.
Roederer Cristal, 2007 for $250. Who does that???

On to the rosé and whites. Let’s go!

Robert Sinskey Vin Gris rosé for $40. Just take my money.
Domaine La Borderie which is a still Chardonnay from the Champagne region of France. There are a few producers that are making still wine from that region and this is a really great example.

Moving on to the red side of life.

Big Sun Energy Grenache: $31, Las Jaras Glou Glou: $38
Hirsch Vineyards San Andreas Fault: $80
Chateau Beaucastel Chateauneuf-du-Pape, 2020: $110
Gaja “Sito Moresco,”2018: $70. Just stop it! This is insanity in the best possible way!

I hope that by writing this I don’t mess it up for everyone! (Editor's note 2: Well Chris, you are the Wine Guy. )The list is deep, thoughtful, sometimes adventurous, and sometimes safe. Most wine lists have a few steals that the sommelier just loves and wants people to try.

At Lees Den, that’s the entire list.

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Contact our Wine Guy via email at chris@chrisshepherdconcepts.com.

Chris Shepherd won a James Beard Award for Best Chef: Southwest in 2014. Last year, he parted ways with Underbelly Hospitality, a restaurant group that currently operates five Houston restaurants: Wild Oats, GJ Tavern, Underbelly Burger, Georgia James, and Pastore. The Southern Smoke Foundation, a non-profit he co-founded with his wife Lindsey Brown, has distributed more than $10 million to hospitality workers in crisis through its Emergency Relief Fund.

Lees Den Wine List Wine Program chefs wine

a CultureMap Exclusive

Houston's 'Chinese takeout bar from the future' touches down in Webster

Courtesy of The Rice Box

A rendering previews The Rice Box's new location in Webster.

Houston’s Chinese takeout bar from the future is coming to the Bay Area. The sixth location of The Rice Box will open in Webster later this summer.

Located at 114 El Dorado Blvd, the new location will be called Rice Box Space Center after NASA’s headquarters at the nearby Johnson Space Center. Founder John Peterson tells CultureMap that it’s a bit of a homecoming for him and his wife/business partner, Jenny Vo, as they grew up in the area. As with every new location, the restaurant created a movie-style poster to announce its opening.

Rice Box Webster movie poster The Rice Box Space Center is expected to open later this summer.Courtesy of The Rice Box

For its first truly suburban location, Peterson plans to offer a more efficient pickup system for to-go orders. Dubbed The Rice Box Pickup Reactors, the system applies Rice Box’s sci-fi aesthetic to curbside ordering. As seen in the rendering above, the building will have six slots that drivers will pull into to get their orders.

“The goal is to have guests in and out with food in hand in around 90 seconds,” Peterson writes in an email. “It’s still pickup, but we’re trying to make that moment feel more intentional and more connected to the digital side of Rice Box instead of treating it like an afterthought. We’re looking at this opening as both a new store and a prototype for how Rice Box can work in more suburban markets without losing the part of the brand that makes it feel like us.”

Bay Area-area diners can expect the same menu as the Rice Box’s other locations. That includes staples such as General Tso’s chicken, sesame chicken, beef with broccoli, and orange peel beef. The restaurant also serves traditional Chinese-inspired fare such as Chongqing chicken, cumin beef, mapo tofu, and chow fun noodles.

Recently, Peterson rolled out a new version of Rice Box’s dumplings. Available in chicken, pork, or vegetable, each style of dumpling comes with a different wrapper that enhances the filling’s flavor. They’re also available either steamed or fried.

The Rice Box started as a food truck in the early 2010s. After moving to a permanent location in the Greenway Plaza food court, it has opened brick-and-mortar locations in the Heights, River Oaks, Rice Village, and Memorial.

openings news-you-can-eat the rice box