Manuel Recio: Oral History Interview

This interview is with Manuel Recio of Abbott Claim. In this interview, Manuel talks about the different decades of his life and the 3 main paths he has taken so far.Manuel talks about spending his 20s working in advertising and marketing, working for companies in Florida and later Oregon after moving there with his wife Leslie. They met while studying abroad in Spain, and Leslie was attending Linfield at the time.Next, in his 30s, Manuel and Leslie lived in Grand Island and owned Veridian Farms. Manuel shared about taking boxes of produce and marketing materials to restaurants in Portland to encourage chefs to buy ingredients directly from their farm.Manuel also discusses focusing on specialty foods and wine in his 40s. He started by becoming one of the few master carvers of Jamón Ibérico in the United States, and continued on to receive his Level 3 WSET certification and study winemaking at UC Davis. He worked at several different wineries during that time, including Domaine Drouhin, Cristom, Domaine Serene, and Abbott Claim.This interview was conducted by Rich Schmidt at Linfield University’s Nicholson Library on November 20, 2025.