Pairings: Bold cabernet stands up to seared tuna and black beans

It’s big. It’s bold. It’s a bit wild. It’s our Wine of the Week, Spottswoode Lyndenhurst 2017 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ($85). The wine is a youngster, but a mature one, with a level of poise and refinement rare in a cabernet this young.

There’s a silken suppleness to the wine’s texture, along with lively acidity and gorgeous fruit, including blackberry, black raspberry and black currant. There is an earthiness to the wine as well that offers suggestions of a forest floor after a summer rain, cedar, juniper berries, cumin seeds and dried thyme. The finish lingers beautifully.

The wine goes perfectly with all the usual suspects, of course, from rare steak and grilled sausages to bacon, lentils, wild rice, aged cheeses and morel mushrooms. If you can snag some of the season’s last morels, sauté them in butter and spoon them over wild rice, a spectacular treat on Father’s Day if your dad is a vegetarian.

Today’s recipe is for all the fathers who are not necessarily vegetarian but who don’t automatically reach for meat. Rare tuna is an excellent companion to cabernet sauvignon, as is soy sauce. I’ve added black beans to engage the wine’s earthy elements. It’s a striking meal for a striking wine.

Seared Tuna Teriyaki with Black Beans

Serves 4 to 6

Simple Black Beans (recipe follows)

1 cup Pilsner or similar beer

2 tablespoons local honey

3 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger (juice and pulp)

- Generous pinch of crushed red pepper

2 pounds fresh ahi tuna steaks, cut thick

- Kosher salt

- Black pepper in a mill

½ cup creme fraiche

2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley

Make the black beans several hours or a day before serving. Refrigerate until ready to reheat and serve.

Put the beer in pint glass jar and add the honey, soy sauce, ginger and crushed red pepper. Close the jar and shake well.

Set the tuna steaks in a glass dish that will hold them in a single layer. Using a pastry brush, coat the tuna all over with teriyaki sauce. Cover and set aside.

Start a fire in an outdoor grill and reheat the beans.

When the coals are evenly covered in ash and are quite hot, set the tuna on a very clean grill rack and sear for 2 minutes; turn and sear for 2 minutes more. Return to the glass dish and brush generously with the remaining teriyaki. (The tuna should be very rare, so if you happen to have thin steaks, you may need to reduce cooking time to 90 seconds per side.)

Working quickly, divide the black beans between individual plates. Set a tuna steak half on and half off the beans. Add a dollop of crème fraiche on top of the beans, scatter parsley over everything and enjoy right away.

Simple Black Beans

Serves 4 to 6

8 ounces (1 ½ cups) black beans, soaked overnight and drained

1 yellow onion, quartered

6 garlic cloves, peeled crushed

1 celery rib

1 ancho chile or other mild dried chile

½ teaspoon ground cumin

- Kosher salt

- Black pepper in a mill

Put the beans into a heavy pot, add water to cover them by about ?2 inches and set over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, celery, chile and cumin and bring to a boil.

Reduce the heat and simmer, partially covered, until the beans start to give off their characteristic aroma. Add 2 generous teaspoons of salt and continue to cook until the beans are very tender. Total cooking time will be between ?45 and 60 minutes. Stir now and then while the beans cook.

Remove from the heat and let rest, covered, for at least 15 minutes and as long as an hour.

To serve, use tongs to remove and discard the onion, celery and chile. Stir the beans well, taste, season with several turns of black pepper and correct for salt. Use an immersion blender to purée about a third of the beans. Serve as directed in the main recipe.

Michele Anna Jordan is the author of 24 books to date, including “California Home Cooking.” Email her at michele@micheleannajordan.com.