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Charles Palmer |
< Charles Palmer
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Charles Palmer |
The 35 acres of vines sit amongst the 120 acre Wickham Manor Estate, just to the west of the medieval Cinque Port town of Winchelsea, steeped in wine trading history. There are a total of 8 different vineyard blocks, each with its own slightly different soils, and characteristics.
The East Sussex coastal location just a mile from the sea provides a beneficial climate, having higher night time temperatures, reducing the risk of frosts and helping to ripen the grapes. The carefully chosen aspect of the slopes and the soil that the vines are planted in is perfect for growing these varieties of grapes.
Charles Palmer and his wife Sally first took on Wickham Manor, and the land that makes up the estate in 1998 after having farmed previously in West Sussex for 21 years “Farming is not just about planting a crop, and hoping it will grow, it’s much more than that, and requires an intimate knowledge of the soil and the environment” claims Charles.
Charles and his family hand planted their first vines in 2006 specifically with the aim of producing a sparkling wine of the highest standard. The estate covers a total of 120 acres of which 35 acres are in vines. Production of each wine is carried out in house by winemakers Charles and his son Robert, in small batches with meticulous attention to detail. Since 2018 as a result of the constantly warming climate, the family now makes a range of still wines along side their sparkling wines, using specific clones of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay that Charles planted with this in mind. The result is a small and exciting collection of vintage still and sparkling wines, each vintage is unique and characterful in its own way.
2017 marked a new milestone for the family’s budding business. A new winery was completed onsite at the estate, marking the first year that all our wines will be made in-house.
2018 this was the most amazing year so far in our history, the weather was ideal from start to finish with perfect growing and ripening conditions. It was so good that we were able to leave picking of one of our Pinot Noir blocks for one week after we had finished the main picking and then make our first still red wine.
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