About me

I set up Develop Your Palate in order to share information about new and different wines out there and more recently some fantastic crafts beers. I don’t claim to be an ‘expert’ as there are so many wines and beers out there to discover with new ones every day! However, through my blog, I hope to highlight and share the stories of a range of diverse and interesting beers and wines.

My work has included:

Corporate and personalised tastings
Advising clients on cellar investing
Wine education
Represent brands at consumer and trade events

My experience in tasting also includes being an Associate Judge on the quarterly Scoop Magazine Panel Tastings and regularly tasting with key press. For 3 years while I was in Perth until September 2017, I regularly tasted on the Liquor Barons bi-monthly panel tastings.

I also work as a Digital Marketing Specialist advising clients how to navigate through the online space. I have been a Digital Marketing Consultant for Swanbourne Cellars since September 2014 and during 2019, I focused on interviewing winemakers and sharing their stories on the Swanbourne Cellars blog here.

As a Digital Marketing Consultant, my work includes:

Website audit and maintenance
Google Analytics and Google Search Console
SEO & Blogging
Digital advertising (GoogleAds, Facebook advertising, Facebook competitions)
Social media management (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram)
Electronic direct marketing using MailChimp and Campaign Monitor
Management of Customer Feedback Digital Channels (Yelp, Google My Business)
Creating brochures using Adobe Photoshop & InDesign

As my life has changed, my blog has altered slightly. In addition to writing about recent vineyard trips and tastings, I also share my tips for sight seeing in different city breaks.

However my main focus is wine. I discovered my passion in wine when I lived in Bordeaux in 2001 when I was studying French and Italian translation. I returned to the UK the following year to graduate with a BA (Hons) in French and Management Studies and joined the Majestic Wine graduate trainee program. After passing both the WSET Advanced Certificate Level 3 in Wines & Spirits in 2004 and the WSET Diploma Level 4 in Wines & Spirits in 2007 (both with merit) a the Wine & Spirit Education Trust in London, I continued to work in the UK wine trade. My time with Raisin Social Ltd and Westbury Communications meant I was fortunate to meet winemakers from around the world and taste their wines. I also attended press trips as part of ‘The Discover The Origin’ campaign, visiting over 20 wineries in Burgundy in 2009-2010 where I returned in 2014. While living in Europe I was lucky to be able to taste some remarkable wines at the vineyards in Valencia, Bordeaux, Burgundy, Côtes du Rhône, Luberon and Provence. Since moving to Australia over 9 years ago, I have been to wineries in the Hunter Valley, Margaret River, Swan Valley and the Great Southern in WA.

Now based in Melbourne, I visit wineries and taste wines when I can. My aim is to try and start my Master of Wine in the next 7 years. It is a rigorous and difficult exam which started in 1953 and every year, only 6 out of the 21 who sit the exam, pass. Currently there are 372 Masters of Wine in the world and I hope to join their ranks one day.

You can contact me at

ruth [at] developyourpalate [dot] com

Enjoy your wines!

Me in one of the vineyards of Louis Latour