The Versailles estate is not in fact in Ile-de-France but instead the hamlet of Versailles in Montagnac-sur-Auvignon, in the heart of the Buzet appellation. And yet the origins of the name are the same as those of the illustrious château, designating former marshes converted into tillable land over the centuries. Founded in 1937 by a family of merchants who converted to agriculture and planted the first vines over four hectares, the estate was first taken over by a son, before being bought in 2008 by Hélène Singlande. Spanning seven hectares of gravel soils in a region bordered by Oceanic and Mediterranean climates, the vineyard is planted with two hectares of Merlot, two and a half hectares of Cabernet Franc and two and a half hectares of Sauvignon. Vines are grown according to sustainable farming principles and heavily exposed to the sun, enabling optimum ripeness that produces elegant and aromatic wines.

A Versailles molasses-based rum distilled in 1990 and bottled in 2007 by Samaroli. This rum was distilled in the Versailles still—a wooden single pot still—in the period when it was housed at Enmore following the Versailles distillery’’s closure in the 1970s. After Enmore closed in 1994, the still was transferred to the Uitvlugt distillery, then, when the latter also closed in 1999, to its final destination at Diamond. Although best known for his outstanding whisky bottlings and selections, Silvan Samaroli is just as astute when it comes to rum. He began his career as a whisky importer (Linkwood) in Italy in 1968 and then became an independent bottler in the 1970s after visiting Bruichladdich. Many of his bottlings, for which he produces his own labels, have become legends in their own right, including the Bowmore 1966 Bouquet and the West Indies 1948. A limited edition of 346 bottles.