meet courtney.
Sonoma County, California
Courtney | Sonoma County, California
There’s a particular kind of courage required to slide into someone’s DMs and ask them to change your life. But that’s exactly what Courtney did when she found herself at a crossroads, having just failed her first wine certification and questioning whether she belonged in an industry that felt, in her words, “invite-only.”
The Co-Founder of Cookout At The Vineyard didn’t start her career thinking about wine. For a decade, she worked as a private chef, crafting intimate dining experiences that transported clients beyond their own four walls. She became skilled at creating restaurant-quality moments in people’s homes, but something was missing. Wine knowledge, she realized, was the final piece of the puzzle.
A Rabbit Hole Worth Falling Down
What began as simple curiosity turned into a delightful obsession. Courtney dove deep: researching organizations, seeking mentors, and asking herself the fundamental question: how do I even begin? That first certification attempt felt like confirmation of her worst fears. But for someone who describes herself as “way too curious to give up,” failure was just a detour, not a dead end.
Enter Tish Wiggins of Tish Around Town, who became the mentor Courtney needed. Through their connection, she learned about The Veraison Project’s inaugural apprenticeship program. She applied, not expecting much. But life, as it often does, had other plans.
Moving to California to work in the wine industry in 2022 wasn’t on her bingo card that year yet there she was, selected alongside Tahlia Suggs for a program that would reshape everything.
Where Gathering Meets Belonging
The apprenticeship gave Courtney and Tahlia access to beautiful spaces and places, but something was conspicuously absent: people who looked like them. That observation became the seed for Cookout At The Vineyard, a three-day cultural celebration that merges the traditions they grew up with and the industry they now call home.
“It’s not just about how we gather, but where we gather,” Courtney explains. The event isn’t simply a party, it’s a statement. It’s proof that the BIPOC community’s way of coming together (cooking with love, laughing with souls, guided by ancestors) belongs in every beautiful space, including vineyards.
For Courtney, honoring her heritage starts with gratitude. She wakes up every day thankful for the opportunity to do what she believes God intended for her and she carries forward the memories of cooking with her grandparents, aunts, and uncles—especially the men in her family who could throw down in any setting, from park grills to driveway turkey fryers.
Her grandfather was the best cook. Her mother’s Louisiana roots brought Mardi Gras celebrations and summer cookouts that live rent-free in her mind. Fried catfish, gumbo, étouffée, dirty rice—these aren’t just recipes. They’re treasures she guards fiercely and shares generously, because that’s what food has always meant: joy, love, unity.
The Invisible Hands Behind Every Bottle
If Courtney could pull back the curtain on the wine industry for everyday consumers, she’d want them to understand this fundamental truth: the hands that craft the wine they love are working year-round, not just during harvest. Wine isn’t seasonal labor: it’s constant, dedicated care.
Behind every glass are workers whose contributions often go unseen—people of the land who may not look like you, speak your language, or share your background, but whose lives are deeply connected to the soil and seasons. There’s a privilege, she notes, in being able to consume something Mother Nature allows us to enjoy at its fullest. Fairness means recognizing wine not just as a luxury product, but as the result of year-round dedication from people who deserve visibility, respect, and equity.
When you drink wine, you’re participating in an ecosystem of human effort and natural grace. Honoring that means acknowledging the people behind it, not just the label on the bottle.
Seasonal Comforts and Timeless Sounds
Ask Courtney about her favorite fall/winter drink and she’ll tell you about her devotion to a good old-fashioned hot toddy. Tea, honey, lemon, and more than a little splash of whiskey, bourbon, or scotch. It’s the Southern vibes in her, she admits, and nine times out of ten, her seasonal allergies have kicked in anyway, making it both medicine and comfort!
In the kitchen, she reaches for two things: anything that goes in a simmer pot—cinnamon, clove, orange and lemon slices, star anise filling the air—and Cajun seasoning, that perfect blend of oregano, thyme, onion and garlic powder, smoked paprika, dried mustard, and cayenne.
And the music? The ‘90s spoiled us all so it’s impossible to choose just one sound from an era that felt like every genre was releasing classics still beloved today. Mariah Carey, Aaliyah, Fiona Apple, Geto Boys, UGK, Outkast, Alanis Morissette, TLC, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Lauryn Hill, The Fugees—she could go on forever. The decade shaped her because music then wasn’t just background noise. It was culture, identity, and emotion all at once.
TheTable Is Set
As always, the TFLUXÈ table is set and Courtney has her vision locked down: oceanside in early May - not too hot yet, just beautiful and breezy. The guests? Sade, André 3000, and Barack and Michelle Obama.
The smell of the sea hangs in the air where that salt-tinged scent that reminds Courtney of childhood and explains her love of seafood. Fresh catch of the day is on the menu, with brown butter as the star profile. It’s nutty aroma over scallops, lobster, and sea bass makes her heart smile. There are snow crab legs and crawfish because you’ve got to get your hands a little dirty.
As the sun sets in the background, dishes get passed family-style: dirty rice, fried catfish, étouffée. The freshest green salad surprises with unexpected herbs—dill, rosemary, thyme mixed into the greens. Fire-roasted okra and tomatoes cooked in her grandmother’s cast iron. Grilled brown butter corn on the cob.
Everything is shared, passed hand to hand, creating that flow of conversation and community that only comes when people serve each other. Jazz and neo-soul play from a record player. There’s good wine at the table and a breeze moves throughout the evening.
It’s Courtney’s kind of night—the kind where culture, care, and connection all come together in one perfect gathering.
You can find Courtney on Instagram at agrapeproblemtohave
xoxo,
Ty-Juana L. Flores