Established in 1814 on Madeira Island, and known originally as Rutherford and Grant, Miles Madeira is one of the oldest and most respected brands of Madeira wine world-wide.
In 1856 Henry Price Miles left Wales with his Mother as an infant and arrived on Madeira. Having worked as an apprentice since the age of 12 under the tutelage of James Rutherford, he acquired sound knowledge and experience of the workings of the Madeira trade.
In 1872, the Rutherfords left for London (due to Phylloxera which decimated most of the vineyards in Madeira) and started up a wine importing business at the Old Trinity House in Waterlane. This prompted Miles to purchase the company and stocks.
Latterly, Henry Price Miles made an gentleman's agreement with Rutherford stating that any Madeira sold by them in the United Kingdom, Scandinavia, or Russia, would be bought through H. P. Miles and Co. This agreement was respected and carried out until the Rutherfords sold their firm: Rutherfords, Osborne and Perkins, to Martini Rossi in the 1960's.
Alongside the production of wine, H. P. Miles founded the first Madeiran Brewery in 1872 called the "Atlantic Brewery". It was through these two companies that Henry Price and his two sons, Henry Alfred and Charles Vaughan, created the Miles legacy on the Island.
After the end of The second World war, conditions in the wine trade became extremely difficult, and so Henry Alfred Miles' son, Cecil Miles, negotiated the entry of H. P. Miles and Co. into the Madeira Wine Association.
Miles Madeira is synonymous with excellent Madeira wine and has become one of the best known and most respected brands in the world.