1996 Madeira Miles Tinta Negra Fortificado

Description

The company that would eventually become Miles Madeira was originally known as Rutherford & Brown, established on the island of Madeira in 1814. In 1856, Henry Price Miles left England with his family and arrived in Madeira. Having worked as an apprentice from the age of 12 under the guidance of James Rutherford, he gained a solid knowledge and experience of how the Madeira trade operated. In 1872, the Rutherfords moved to London, due to phylloxera, which had devastated most of the vineyards on Madeira, and began a wine importing business at Old Trinity House in Waterlane. This led Miles to buy the company and its shares and, later, to reach a gentlemen's agreement with Rutherford that any Madeira sold by them in the United Kingdom, Scandinavia, or Russia would be purchased through HPMiles and Co. The Madeira Wine Company was originally an association of several Madeira wine producers that decided to join forces to strengthen their purchasing and production capabilities. The association was founded in 1913. During the years of turmoil, the long-established family firms of Blandy's and Leacock came together, followed shortly afterward by Miles and Cossart Gordon, thereby creating the largest producer and exporter of Madeira wine. Whatever its size, maintaining the unique characteristics and style of each individual company remained the association's central focus. By the late 1970s, the interests in the Madeira Wine Company, as it had become known, were reduced to just a handful of the original families, with the Blandy family holding the controlling stake. In 1989, the Blandy family, needing to strengthen the sales and marketing side of the business, invited the Symington family of Porto, Portugal, to join them as partners. This partnership has continued to the present day, enabling the Madeira Wine Company to play a leading role in developing the Madeira wine trade. The bottling year may not correspond to the image shown. (Image for illustrative purposes only.)