Last Wednesday in these pages, Matt Kramer cited a raft of dismal statistics on the state of French wine imports. Bordeaux, in particular, has been hard hit by falling demand in America and Britain. On the previous day, by chance, I’d attended a French wine tasting in the salon of the majestically ornate French Consulate, and it put human faces on the grim statistics.

Normally, tastings for the press and retailers are intended to drum up interest in wines of a new vintage soon to be sold in America. Last Tuesday’s event was unusual in that most of the 38 wine companies present lacked an importer. Without an importer’s commitment to ship and sell the wines, none of those wines on hand for sampling will reach the American market. And not necessarily for lack of quality. I tasted, for example, the rich and rustic Chateau Tournefeuille 2002 from the Bordeaux hinterland of Lalande-de-Pomerol. It was a wine I’d be pleased to pour for my guests. Just as suitable would be the Chateau Lagarosse 2001, from what its owner called “a great exposure” on the Premieres Cotes de Bordeaux.

I chatted, too, with Antoine Touton, who had bought and restored a run-down Bordeaux property called Chateau Sainte Barbe. In a region where red wines nearly always spend time in oak barrels, Mr. Touton had the audacity to bottle a grainy-textured “no-oak” merlot. This treatment is “more interesting,” he said, “because it shows more respect for the wine.” If available in America, this Merlot de Sainte Barbe would retail for about $12. I’d choose it for a meal where I wanted a wine that would tread lightly yet not lack character.

The most surprising presence at the Consulate tasting, to my eye, was a pair of wines on the table of Maison Paul Reitz, both of them bearing the distinctive label of the famed Hospices de Beaune in Burgundy, whose wines are auctioned off for charity on the last Sunday of each November. One was a red wine, Corton Cuvee Charlotte Dumay, vintage 2000.The other was a white wine, Meursault, Cuvee Goureau, Les Poruzots 2002. The Corton was plummy, fleshy, and ready to drink, while the Meursalt was like French butter and almonds in the glass. These are special wines, even trophy wines, and it startled me that they should be looking for an American importer.

French wine has a problem all right, but a falling tide does not beach all boats. On the day before the Consulate event, the Starlight Roof ballroom at the Waldorf-Astoria was packed for the tasting of the 2002 Bordeaux vintage, due to arrive on retail shelves this spring. Hosted by the Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux, about 80 properties showed off their 2002 wines. The half-dozen top-tier Bordeaux, including Latour and Lafite, were absent. Being Bordeaux royalty, they don’t deign to rub shoulders with their lesser neighbors at such a tasting. Most of the wines on hand could be called the upper-middle class of the Bordeaux establishment, wines that are familiar and reliable at home and on restaurant wine lists. Their prices range from about $15 to $50.

How is this 2002 Bordeaux vintage? My impression is that it produced wines that are ripe without being lush, with fruit, acids, and tannins in balance. Perhaps they lacked a bit of verve or any other quality that would grab your attention. But we’ve been spoiled by an unusual string of fine Bordeaux vintages. There hasn’t been a loser since 1993, and some like 2000 have been downright spectacular. See the accompanying list for 2002 wines that struck me as being particularly appealing without the need for long cellaring.

France may never again dominate the global wine market. But that country’s wine regions, in all their diversity, will always remain the prototype and reference point for what fine wine can be. Not all vinous values can be measured by the statistics.

Recommended Bordeaux From the 2002 Vintage

Note: These wines, tasted on January 17 at an event sponsored by the Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux, emphasize early drinkability. Retail prices are not yet posted.

CHATEAU MALARTIC-LAGRAVIERE (GRAVES) 2002 Ripe and forceful, with edgy cabernet sauvignon flavors dominant. Melds traditional Graves earthiness with an overlay of New World vivid fruit. Star wine consultant Michel Rolland is at work at this property, and it shows.

CHATEAU HAUT-BAILLY (GRAVES) 2002 Shy aromas just now. But a sauve, silky, rounded wine with a subtle cigar-box essence. Immaculate wine making. Enjoyable already, and sure to reveal new pleasures as it ages. An exemplary Graves.

CHATEAU BEYCHEVELLE (SAINT-JULIEN) 2002 Ripe, deep, and elegant. “We took all the risks to pick as late as possible,” a Beychevelle representative told me. “The risks can go against you if it rains. “In 2002,the gamble paid off in a wine with savor and depth that Beychevelle doesn’t always achieve.

CHATEAU SIRAN (MARGAUX) 2002 Glowing deep color. Violet-like perfume. Light-bodied but with well-etched cassis fruit flavor. This sensuous wine is my ideal of Margaux.

CHATEAU LYNCH-BAGES (PAUILLAC) 2002 Powerful “cab” aromas. Cedar and smoke flavors. An imposing wine that shouldn’t be near ready to drink, yet I’d be glad to match it up to a leg of lamb tonight.

CHATEAU PETIT VILLAGE (POMEROL) 2002 Loads of earthy merlot fruit. Savory and chewy. Not a wine that’s typically for early drinking, but this one seems in a hurry to give pleasure.

CHATEAU LAFLEURIE-PEYRAGUEY (SAUTERNES) 2002 This was the last wine I sampled at the UGCB tasting, and it lit up my taste buds like a white nectarine just off the tree at its moment of supreme ripeness. For all its juicy sweetness, the acidity in this wine keeps it from being cloying. Based on this example, Bordeaux’s best in 2002 may its sweet white wines.