Private Lab Nirugame Spark
⏳ Drinking Window
Best enjoyed fresh, typically within 1 to 2 years of the bottling date to experience its vibrant effervescence and bright fruit profile.
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
Fresh sashimi, lightly battered vegetable tempura, mild creamy cheeses
✨ Technical Specifications
Part of Aramasa's avant-garde 'Private Lab' series, Nirugame (often spelled Nirgame) represents a playful yet deeply scholarly exploration of sake's historical roots. Crafted by the visionary Yusuke Sato in Akita Prefecture, this sparkling sake is named after a mythical turtle-like creature depicted on its whimsical label. It is brewed using the brewery's legendary, house-isolated Kyokai No. 6 yeast and the labor-intensive, traditional Kimoto starter method. The effervescence is entirely natural, achieved through active secondary fermentation in the bottle, reminiscent of the ancestral method in winemaking. The result is a lightly cloudy, low-alcohol sparkling sake that balances a soft, creamy texture with the vibrant, citrus-like lactic acidity and pristine minerality that defines the modern Aramasa style.
🍾 About the Producer
Established in 1852 by Uhei Sato in Akita Prefecture, Aramasa Shuzo stands as one of Japan's most revolutionary and revered artisanal producers. The brewery earned historic distinction in 1930 when its in-house culture was isolated as Kyokai No. 6, the oldest surviving yeast strain in active distribution. Under eighth-generation kuramoto Yusuke Sato, who took over in the late 2000s, Aramasa embarked on an uncompromising renaissance. Sato committed strictly to pure Junmai brewing, utilizing exclusively local Akita-grown rice cultivated without chemical pesticides, including over 30 hectares farmed in the Uyashinai district. Reviving traditional Edo-period techniques, all fermentations rely purely on indigenous lactic bacteria via the kimoto method and take place entirely in wooden cedar vats (kioke). Fermented using only pristine soft local mountain water and Kyokai No. 6, Aramasa's sakes—such as the iconic unpasteurized No. 6 series, the terroir-driven Colors collection, and the experimental Private Lab bottlings like Amaneko—are globally benchmarked for their electrifying acidity, pristine structural tension, and vinous elegance.
🍷 ABV
8%