Ice-temperature ageing and Meursault casks: a limited run of 280 bottles of aged junmai daiginjo

There is an effort to elevate sake onto the stage of the world’s fine drinks as a spirit whose value is underpinned by long ageing. °Ondo, the ageing brand of Izumise Co., Ltd., an alcohol mail-order business based in Kyoto, began general sales in May 2026 of “007 Meursault Cask −3℃ 2023 Junmai Daiginjo”. In its advance sale on the Japanese crowdfunding platform Makuake in April of the same year, it raised 884% of its target. Support came not only from sake fans but also from people interested in wine-cask ageing and aged sake.

Ageing at “ice temperature”, just before freezing

The core of °Ondo is long ageing at “ice temperature” (hyoon). Ice temperature is the band just before water freezes, from −5°C to 0°C. Resting sake at this low temperature is said to suppress oxidation and discolouration, allowing the flavour to deepen slowly while the aroma and clarity are preserved. Temperature and ageing period are adjusted for each label, and production is limited to a few hundred bottles. The base sake for this 007 is a junmai daiginjo. Junmai daiginjo is the top grade: it is brewed with only rice, rice koji and water, with no added brewer’s alcohol, from rice that has been heavily polished. The rice is Yamada Nishiki from the Kanakai district of Yoshikawa, Hyogo Prefecture. Yamada Nishiki is the leading sake rice, and this district is classified as the top-ranking “Special A district”. The rice polishing ratio is 35%: the outer 65% of each grain is milled away, removing the components that tend to give off-flavours.

Three stages of ageing, with a Meursault cask in the middle

Ageing is divided into three stages. First, the sake rests at −3°C for about two years, settling into a gentler character. Next, it is moved into casks that have been used to age “Meursault” white wine from the Burgundy producer Pierre Bouree, for about five months of further maturation. These casks were used twice for Meursault, for about 16 months each time, so they held wine for around 32 months in total. This stage is said to add aromas reminiscent of white flowers, nuts and vanilla, while keeping the clarity typical of sake. Finally, the sake is returned to ice temperature once more, so that the opened-up aroma and flavour can settle and the whole is brought into balance.

Honda Shoten, the brewery behind “Tatsuriki”

The sake is made by Honda Shoten in Himeji, Hyogo Prefecture, west of Kobe. The brewery, known for its “Tatsuriki” sake brand, was founded in 1921. Since the middle of the Edo period, the Honda family has been involved in brewing as head of the “Banshu Toji”, the guild of master brewers in this region. The brewing water is subsoil water from the Ibo River, drawn from 103 m underground. It is soft water with a hardness of 46, and because it lets fermentation proceed gently, it suits daiginjo brewed slowly at low temperatures. The brewery has worked with ice-temperature ageing for about 40 years.

For European readers, this sake can be seen as a bottle that links white Burgundy and sake. With only 280 bottles made and no mention of overseas sales in the announcement, it will not be easy to get hold of. Even so, sake that advertises “ice-temperature ageing” or a “wine-cask finish” is worth remembering as a new current in aged sake. If you enjoy cask-aged Chardonnay such as Meursault, try pouring it into the same kind of white wine glass and following how the aroma changes as it warms from slightly chilled. You may find it shows how the influence of the cask and the savoury depth of the rice overlap.

References and sources Sankei News (PR TIMES), “Ice-temperature aged sake ‘°Ondo’ achieves 884% on Makuake: limited run of 280 bottles of aged sake, aiming for a ‘world-standard luxury sake’, now on general sale”