+ Laurent Fadanni: Viticulturist and Winemaker
Laurent was born in Liège, Belgium (2 hours from Champagne, France) from Italian parents, where he grew up surrounded by amazing wines. With his ceaseless drive for creating, Laurent engaged in many arts throughout his youth, but his passion was in poetry. Since the age of 17, he has been writing poetry, publishing six books, with more still underway today. After high school, Laurent pursued a BA degree in French Literature, specializing in African Literature, and also began working in theatre and dance. He also fell in love with travelling, and after completing his degree and brief career teaching in Belgium, moved to Montreal, Canada, to pursue playwriting and theatre. It was in Montreal that he met Melissa, changing the course of his life’s path. Laurent decided to move west with Melissa, and turned his passion towards wine, eventually building a home on the property of Whispering Horse. Today, Laurent continues to write poetry and shares his enthusiasm for literature through his career as a high school teacher in the provincial Francophone school system. Laurent’s love and knowledge of wine was the catalyst that sparked the development of Whispering Horse Winery. His wine training began with the WSET course, completing level III, until he realized he was more interested in actually ‘creating’ wines. With that decision, he took a brief apprenticeship in Montalcino, Italy, where he lived and worked on an organic vineyard. Upon his return to Canada, he then learned the ‘science’ and ‘technicalities’ of winemaking through his enrollment in the Washington State University Viticulture and Oenology programs, both of which he successfully completed. As Whispering Horse’s vigneron, Laurent is able to apply his creative, philosophical, and technical wine knowledge towards making honest, minimalist, and exceptional wines.
+ Melissa Giesbrecht: Marketing and Sales
Melissa is the eldest daughter of Barry and Shirley. Born and raised in Yarrow, BC, Melissa, along with her siblings, spent time in her youth learning to ride horses and working on J-Bar Ranch. She has a PhD in Health Geography and in addition to her work at Whispering Horse, is also a Research Associate in the Institute of Aging and Lifelong Health at the University of Victoria. At Whispering Horse, she wears many hats, working both in the vineyard and in the winery, but generally focuses her energy on marketing and sales, and eventually will become manager of the future tasting room.
+ Barry Giesbrecht: Co-owners
Born and raised in Yarrow, BC, Barry spent his youth working on his father’s horse ranch (the current property of Whispering Horse Winery). He eventually settled on the property lying adjacent to J-Bar ranch, where he set his roots, married Shirley, built a home, and started his family of three children. Since then, he has been working and managing the family-run building supply business in Chilliwack (Pioneer Building Supplies). Wanting to keep the property of J-Bar in the family, Barry made the decision with his wife Shirley, daughter Melissa, and son-in-law Laurent to develop Whispering Horse Winery. Today, Barry applies all his management and business expertise as well as lived experiential knowledge on farming to our winery.
+ Shirley Giesbrecht: Co-owners
Shirley was born in Calgary, AB, but moved to Delta, BC, with her family at the age of nine. She first met Barry in her early twenties and soon after moved to Yarrow, where they were married, built a home, and started their family of three children: Melissa, Alanna, and Tyler. Shirley dedicated her life to her family, but always maintained her creative interests, whether through the art of pottery, painting, or jewelry making. At Whispering Horse, Shirley plays a major role in all the creative aspects of developing the winery business, such as logo and building design, while also assisting with a range of various other hands-on tasks that running a winery demands.
+ Enver Haliti: The ‘horse-power’
Whispering horse has one part-time employee, Enver, and we could not have found anyone with more heart and soul to help us with all the grueling hands-on work vineyards and wineries require. Coming as a refugee from Kosovo in the early 90s, Enver and his family moved into the small house across the road from J-Bar ranch, to work as the ranch-hand for John Giesbrecht. Enver, like our family, also fell in love with the property and when J-Bar became Whispering Horse, he agreed to stay on and continue to work with us as we developed the winery. Now, Enver is an essential part of our team and we are so happy to be able to share this journey with him.
