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San Francisco has a new restaurant home for fine wine, and it is called RN 74. I was there for the opening weekend of this heralded collaboration between Michael Mina, Raj Parr and collector Wilf Jaeger. Wilf provided the core of the wine list, and since he is one of America’s premier collectors, the list has immediately become one of the finest in the country, rivaling such New York legends as Cru and Veritas. In addition, there are many great deals to be had on the list, of which we took advantage. The food was also excellent, with a bistro-type feel infused with haute cuisine courtesy of Michael and Wilf. Wilf, a self-trained chef who loves to cook as much as he loves to collect, was also very involved in the menu, and everything was delicious. The restaurant was packed, the mood festive, and it was time to drink.

There were a few familiar facelifts in the crowd, and I was joined by my friend Chris, who generously brought a 1978 La Tache with him. We’ll get to that shortly. We started with some whites and a 1969 Drouhin Montrachet Marquis de Laguiche, from a batch that Wilf got directly from Drouhin’s cellars. The nose was gorgeous, with a honeycomb core along with aromas of almond and cola nut. It was exotic and tropical with a cocoa buttery nose. The palate was polished and round with nice vigor and a tongue twisting finish, possessing excellent definition. Chris admired its ‘almost Champagne-like’ qualities, also noting ‘apple.’ There were also excellent citrus flavors, and the aromas carried over the palate, providing a layer of kink and complexity. There was still ‘nice acid,’ and toast emerged on the finish of this tasty and leathery white, which held in the glass admirably. It bloomed in the orange direction, as its few cobwebs dusted themselves off over time (95).

We followed with a 1979 Domaine Leflaive Batard Montrachet. Both of these whites were off the list, by the way. The Leflaive was singing in the nose, full of wheat, corn syrup, caramel, bittersweet orange, wax, yeast and honey aromas. There was great poise and balance on the palate, which possessed definition and class, along with grace and agility. It was another testament to the greatness of 1979 in white Burgundy, the vintage of the decade for white and arguably one of its finest all time. Wilf even hailed ’79 as his ‘favorite white Burgundy vintage.’ The wine stayed tasty, with more honeycomb flavors emerging, and the Leflaive kept lifting to higher and higher ground. What a wine (96+).

Sufferin’ Sandy was in the crowd, and he had brought with him a 1999 Ramonet Montrachet, a wine that I just had the Monday prior. When it rains, it pours. The nose was minty and full of corn stalk, wound and tight with nerves of steel. This bottle was much more powerful than the bottle I had had Monday, which was a bit shut down. Despite being wound, this bottle was still expressive, and its palate rippled with minerals. Flavors of butter and corn stalk joined the minerals on the palate, which had a minty finish. There was race car-like power and definition here (95+).

We had a pair of 1978s on tap next, but Sandy interrupted our programming with a magnum of 1996 Henri Jayer Vosne Romanee Cros Parantoux. ‘Young, young, young and so tight,’ observed Chris at first, and yes, he was talking about the wine. Wilf found it ‘impressive.’ This magnum was not marred by some of the sulfur or gas that I had previously encountered a couple of times with this wine, which was good news for me, as I had almost written this vintage of Jayer Cros P off. It was staggeringly concentrated, especially for a 1996, and flirted with a California impression. Aromas of anise and black cherry jam dominated the nose, which was almost Chunky soupy with its thickness. The palate was very wound and very New World, with a thick finish and lots of cola flavors. There was a muscly, monolithic edge to this infant of a red (95+M).

We finally made our way to the 1978 La Tache, which was one of the best bottles of this that I have ever had, and one of the best bottles of La Tache period that Wilf has had over the past few years. 1978 is a vintage that many lovers like to bash a little, but this bottle would have silenced any critic. The nose dripped with menthol, mint and game, displaying intense depth and richness. The palate was thick and creamy, tasty and still minty, with long, long acidity. Overall, the flavors were on the earthy side, but since this earth was La Tache, that was a very good thing. It had a mother’s milk goodness to its palate, and its acidity seemed endless. Some duck confit brought out ridiculous black olive flavors, and words like ‘catnip, syrup, flesh and goodness’ rounded out my notes (96+).

Unfortunately, a bottle of 1978 Henri Jayer Cros Parantoux was oxidized. Ouch (DQ).

We plucked a 1947 Drouhin Chambertin off the list next, whose nose was unfortunately slightly musty and corked, although Wilf and Raj found it ‘more mushroomy.’ The palate was still outstanding, rich and fat with amazing concentration. Beef bouillon and garden flavors graced the palate. Wilf commented how ‘1947 reminds me of 1996 with its high acid, but has more bulk.’ It had that old edge to it despite all its fresh qualities, and oat and tea flavors rounded out its hearty and citrusy palate, and Raj added, ‘coffee.’ It was quite reductive in all its raw materials, and it did continue to improve, almost overcoming its musty qualities. It was still a good drink, let’s put it that way. Wilf continued on his vintage analysis when asked about 1995, comparing that to 1976, although he did say that there were a handful of great 1995s for the producers who waited to pick after everyone else, mainly Roumier, Rousseau and . Surprise, surprise (95A).

We changed gears with a 1970 Chateau de Beaucastel Chateauneuf du Pape on Wilf’s recommendation as one of his favorite, old Beaucastels. I was just commenting how much I love old Beucastel, and how someone got a great buy at last week’s auction for a case of 1966 that hammered at $4000, and I couldn’t resist trying the ’70 for the first time, especially for the price it was on the list. It was a ‘wow’ wine, much blacker in style than any of the Burgundies, thick and oozing aromas of slate, which carried over to the palate along with olives, garrigue, spice and black cherry flavors. Its mineral components were mega, and its power for its age also most noteworthy. The wine was still inky! Smoke and wax rounded out this incredible Rhone (96).

We decided to refresh ourselves with some 1973 Pol Roger, which was interesting yet quite yeasty. The nose was gamy and full of stewed white fruits, along with some ‘wet bed’ per Chris. There was good freshness in the mouth with some white blossom flavors, but also some back alley ones. White chocolate wafer flavors emerged, as some air helped this older bubbly find itself in the glass (93).

The last wine on this extraordinary evening was a 1989 Ramonet Chassagne Montrachet Les Ruchottes. We had intended to have an ’89 white earlier to complete our ‘on the nines’ white flight, but didn’t quite get around to it until now. This has always been one of my ‘pet’ white Burgundies, delivering grand cru complexity at a premier cru price, and this ’89 didn’t disappoint. In fact, it exceeded my expectations as I thought we might start to see some effects of age on it, but this bottle was perfect. Its nose was classic Ramonet ”“ rich, buttery and minty. There was deep fat here in a buttery, corny way. Its minty and (good) herbal flavors came to me as rosemary mint jelly ”“ that was it, wow! There was also honeysuckle, although Chris found a little benevolent ‘catbox.’ Someone admired its sweetness, and there were flavors of Corn Pops there (95).

It was a fitting opening to what will be a must destination in San Francisco for every wine lover.