Can one still sort By Album By Year in any of the views in iTunes 11?
Solution 1:
While in the albums view go to the view menu and select viewing options (command+j) and choose sort by year.
Here is a screenshot (in german but I hope you get the important points).
Solution 2:
In artist view press command+j (Mac) or ctrl+j (windows).
Then select "sort albums by year" in the popup.