We chose the 2011 vintage because, although it was a complicated year, the wines were pretty good and readily available. What’s more, it was overshadowed by the highly touted 2009 and 2010 vintages.

In my experience, the best place to look for values is in a good vintage that comes right after a year that has been deemed great. The 2001 Bordeaux vintage is a classic example.

Along with its built-in millennial appeal, the 2000 vintage was hugely hyped by many critics. Bordeaux fans salivated after these wines regardless of costs. They paid far more per bottle than they would have for 2001s, a vintage that I actually prefer to 2000. The 2001s were appealing at an earlier age than the 2000s and, in many cases, are still preferable.

I don’t mean to say that 2011 was a better vintage than ’10 or ’09. But it’s cheaper, and while many bottles require further aging, they do remind me a bit of the 2001s in that they will be ready to drink sooner than their predecessors.

The tasting affirmed my sense that the 2011s offer a lot of pleasure. The best of these wines reminded me that Bordeaux excels at the classic mission of all wines: to refresh and to be a great drink with food. The fabled austerity of these wines may be an obstacle if they are drunk as an aperitif or in a bar, but with food, what otherwise may seem astringent comes off as cool, brisk and fresh.

These qualities derive from the excellent acidity in many of these wines. We all agreed that the best showed a good balance of tannins and acidity, the elements that provide structure to a wine. The top wines were structured yet fresh, with nuanced aromas and flavors that were fruity, floral, herbal and mineral.

We rejected wines that had lost the tension between ripeness and acidity, showing sweet and candied flavors. We also found more than a few wines that were dominated by oaky aromas and flavors, and marred by the bitterness of oak tannins.