Viña Tarapacá was founded in 1874 as “Viña de Rojas” in honor of its founder, Francisco de Rojas y Salamanca, a renowned and respected businessman of the time.

Years later, the winery was acquired by Don Antonio Zavala and renamed “Viña Zavala”. When he and his wife divorced, the winery was left to his ex-wife, Mercedes Ulloa, as part of the divorce settlement.
Doña Mercedes renamed it “Viña Tarapacá Ex Zavala” in gratitude to her lawyer, Don Arturo Alessandri, known as “The Lion of Tarapacá” (Tarapacá is a region in northern Chile).