For Easter dinner the wife and I will be serving a smoked turkey, (from Greenberg's Smoked Turkeys in Tyler, Texas) and a "bone in" ham from an old Polish/Ukrainian butcher here in New York. (A city ham to you Southerners, not as salty as a Smithfield ham.)
The problem is the turkey is heavily smoked and redolent of black pepper, whereas the ham will be sweet and slightly salty. What's a poor boy to do?
Pinot? Merlot? Riesling? Chardonnay? or perhaps a Spanish Garnacha, say a Los Rocas?
Or just set some whites and reds out and allow folks to pour what they wish for themselves?
Any suggestions would be welcome.

Aussie Shiraz in the style that Parker loves and therefore overrates.

Maybe a California Pinofandel?

That would work too. A red with some residual sweetness like many Parker blessed Aussie Shiraz and many California Pinotfandels.

Hmmm, over the top, residual sweetness. Could be a great way to launch some of my '03 Marquis Phillips Shiraz! After all, it IS the wife's family.

Good call.

I'd go with a Gigondas. Yummy with turkey, holds up to ham.

But that's just me.

I think the MP Shiraz is arelatively great wine. Which is to say, it is agreat wine to serve torelatives . It's from Australia, which is trendy. It is overly sweet, which provides superficial appeal. And kids love to oogle at the Roogle.

Just keep a nice Pinot and Zinfandel on hand for yourself.

What a great idea! I've been wondering what to do with my '03 MP.


(I'll have to hide a second bottle of something for myself.)

go with Jones

Personally, I'd serve a good German Riesling (Kabinett or Spatlese). But, on the other hand, I don't have any '03 MP I'm trying to get rid of

a

Get your hands on some Foley Charbono..open and promptly hide in the pantry. while you rfriends and family are enjoying there over-rated but great Ausie shiraz you'll be excusing yourself every now and then to your ........No, just get a few extra of the Charbono, EVERYONE will love it!!

It turns out that the MP '03 Shiraz was a good call. The residual sweetness worked with both the ham and the smoked turkey. I decanted them for 2 hrs prior to serving and left them in the cellar at 56 degrees prior to serving dinner. I think that helped mute the heat from the alcoholic flavor that is present in MP's entry level shiraz. I did not find it as objectionable as Board-O did in his Tasting Notes commentary, but then again I had this after 2 bottles of Moet White Star and several Guinness.
Thanks for the input folks, I've learned my lesson. i.e. To wait for the reviews of your fellow forumites before commiting to a purchase of a controversial wine like MP, instead of buying it based on prior years reviews. Oh well, 4 down 2 to go. It served its purpose.