Charles Palmer

The Path

Mechanical engineering training set the first frame for Charles Palmer’s work: structure, systems, and an eye for how parts hold together. That discipline was followed by farming in partnership with brother Graham in Sussex, England, where the work shifted into land, season, and yield. In 1998, Palmer began farming with wife Sally at Wickham Manor in Wickham Manor, adding another layer of hands-on agricultural practice to a career already grounded in production and timing. The move into wine came in 2006, when Charles Palmer became founder and winemaker of Charles Palmer Vineyard. The first 2 ha of vines planted in 2006 established the basis for that project, linking earlier farm work to the more exacting routines of vineyard and cellar. For Palmer, that step extended the same practical discipline into English sparkling wine. Since 2015, Palmer has also held several academic and leadership roles at Harrisburg University: dean, School of Applied Media & Innovation; Associate Professor and Program Lead of Interactive Media; and Executive Director, Center for Advanced Entertainment and Learning Technologies. Those roles place him across teaching, administration, and program leadership, alongside a working life built around making and managing systems.

The Work Today

At Charles Palmer Vineyard in the United Kingdom, Charles Palmer works as founder and winemaker, with the focus on English sparkling wines. The vineyard reflects a career assembled through engineering training, farming, and wine production rather than a single abrupt change of course. Each stage has added a practical register to the one before it, and that accumulation remains visible in the work.

In Their Words “This was the basis for planting our first 2 ha of vines in 2006.”

Acclaim

Charles's honors include Gold medal for first vintage (2009 Classic Cuvée).