The 9th annual Boulder Burgundy Festival began yesterday evening with an extraordinary tasting of “Old and Rare” wines selected from the Somm Foundation cellar.

This historic collection of wines got its start in 2002 when benefactors Kathy and Jeff Johnston donated $1 million worth of wine to the foundation.

In the words of Master Sommelier Jay Fletcher, who selected the wines for last night’s event and presented the spectacular flight, the gift inspired Jay and a group of his colleagues to launch “the Guild of Sommeliers Education Foundation in order to use this great gift from the Johnston’s collection to enlighten aspiring sommeliers. We worked to create a great online educational wine compendium while also raising money for scholarships and enrichment trips to help those in need.”

Last night’s sold-out event helped to raise money for future scholarships and travel opportunities for up-and-coming sommeliers and wine professionals.

Read more about this remarkable collection here.

As Jay noted at the end of the tasting, many of the bottles he’s used over the years for the Boulder Burgundy Festival tastings have been “onesies,” in other words, the very last bottles from a given lot. After so many years, the collection is coming to an end, he said, making last night’s event a truly historic one.

Special thanks to Jay, his team of volunteer sommeliers, and Mateo restaurant who hosted the event and offered guests a wonderful spread of delicious Burgundy-friendly food.

Click here for a Facebook album of photos from the tasting.