°Ondo, the ice-aged sake brand from Izumise Co., Ltd. (headquarters: Shimogyo-ku, Kyoto; President: Naotaka Totsuka), which operates more than 50 specialty liquor retail stores and develops new alcoholic beverage products, is holding a lottery sale for its sparkling sake, °Ondo 001 Sparkling Sake -2°C 2019 Junmai Daiginjo "Muhou." Starting Wednesday, August 19, 2026, just 20 bottles will be available. The brand's debut release, previously sold out amid strong demand, returns after further aging, now refined to its most polished state yet.
What Is °Ondo, the Project Built Around Aging Temperature and Time?
Sake has long been called "a drink that travels through time," prized for the color that deepens, the flavor that rounds out, and the complexity of aroma that develops with age. But is that truly evolution, or merely change? That question was the starting point for °Ondo, a sake brand built around exploring aging temperature.
At °Ondo, sake is aged at -5°C to 0°C. Resting the sake as slowly as possible without letting it freeze suppresses discoloration and the muskiness that comes with age, while alcohol and water molecules blend together with remarkable precision. This combination of time and sub-zero temperature keeps the sake's clarity intact while its aroma sharpens and its flavor quietly comes into balance — a process the brand positions as sake's true "evolution." Layering this distinctive aging environment with sake breweries that craft with integrity across the country, painstaking traditional brewing methods, and the casks used for aging brings out each °Ondo product's character: clear color, a crisp aroma, and quietly balanced flavor.
Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism reported that annual inbound visitor numbers topped 40 million for the first time in 2025. With the "Japanese whisky" boom in mind, the brand anticipates that aged sake could be the next trend to catch on internationally. Produced in very small quantities and little known even within Japan, °Ondo aims to grow into a globally recognized brand.
Precision Craft That Impresses Even Wine Connoisseurs: A Rare Bottle From Ninki Shuzo, a Brewery That Keeps Evolving
The bottle on sale this time, °Ondo 001 2019, comes from a rare cellar stock — just 70 bottles remaining out of an original production run of 385 — with 20 of those set aside for this lottery sale.
Where Tradition Meets Innovation: The Art of Refined Bubbles
It's brewed by Ninki Shuzo, founded in 1897 at the foot of Mount Adatara in Nihonmatsu, Fukushima Prefecture. For more than 120 years the brewery has held to its belief in making "ginjo and only ginjo," while also being an early adopter of innovations such as sparkling sake and bottle-fermented secondary fermentation — a team of craftsmen that keeps evolving.
Ninki Shuzo
The sake rice Gohyakumangoku is carefully polished down to 50%, and the resulting junmai daiginjo base sake, brewed in traditional wooden vats, gets its natural bubbles through the age-old technique of bottle-fermented secondary fermentation. A "dosage zero" method with no added sugar lets the rice's delicate sweetness stand out, and the sake is then left to age at -2°C. This meticulous process, involving the kind of time and effort associated with premium Champagne, is a major reason the sake wins over wine lovers as much as sake enthusiasts.
Aged in sub-zero silence since it was brewed in 2019, the sake has developed a smooth, rounded character with real depth. It carries an elegant aroma reminiscent of white flowers and citrus, delicate bubbles that rise and fade like mist, and a soft, rice-derived sweetness balanced by crisp acidity and umami. It's a sparkling sake shaped by the land of Nihonmatsu and the passion of its brewers, refined through the quiet of sub-zero aging.
Product Overview
- Product name: °Ondo 001 Sparkling Sake -2°C 2019 Junmai Daiginjo "Muhou"
- Price: ¥22,000 (tax included, shipping not included)
- Vintage: 2019
- Aging temperature: -2°C
- Sake rice: Gohyakumangoku
- Rice polishing ratio: 50%
- Alcohol content: 14%
- Sake Meter Value: -2
- Acidity: 3.8
- Volume: 720ml
- Producer: Ninki Shuzo, Fukushima Prefecture
Lottery Sale Details
- Entry period: Wednesday, August 19 – Wednesday, August 26, 2026
- Winners announced: Thursday, August 27, 2026
- Lottery page: https://ondosake.com/pages/lottery001
About °Ondo
°Ondo is a project dedicated to rediscovering sake's true appeal through ice-temperature aging (below 0°C), exploring how temperature can be used to scientifically shape sake.
Most recently released: 007 Meursault Cask -3°C 2023 Junmai Daiginjo "Rinka," ¥38,500 (tax included) / 720ml
°Ondo official website: https://ondosake.com
