It was a seemingly incongruous scene: 55 worldly gastronomes who had traveled to New York from all parts of the country rising to applaud an 86-year-old farmer at one of Manhattan’s best restaurants. Only in wine do the worlds of agriculture and conspicuous consumption collide with such joyous reverence, especially when the wine is Burgundy and the farmer is Michel Lafarge.

Over the last 25 years, the world has fallen in love with Burgundy — the wines, the people and the culture. Perhaps nobody has embodied the allure of Burgundy as well as Michel Lafarge, whose family estate in Volnay makes wines that Burgundy lovers prize for their deep, soulful beauty. They are modest wines in the best sense of the word, not showy but respectful and expressive of their terroirs, graceful, dignified and altogether captivating.

So it was that Mr. Lafarge stood before a packed room late last month at Bâtard, with Frédéric and Chantal Lafarge, his son and daughter-in-law, and his partners at the estate, celebrating the 65th vintage he has worked at what is now called Domaine Michel Lafarge. The dinner highlighted the opening night of La Paulée de New York, Daniel Johnnes’s homage to Burgundy.

Before the night was over, the crowd was treated to 15 vintages of Lafarge, three whites and 12 reds, ranging from 2011 back to 1953, accompanied by the occasional bit of wisdom issued in French by Mr. Lafarge and translated by Mr. Johnnes.