Fabián Elías Muñoz Álvarez is the winemaker for Viña Ayllu in the Atacama Desert, Chile. He is driven by a passion for expressing the potential of each territory through wine. He was born and raised in Chile’s Cachapoal Valley, in San Vicente de Tagua Tagua, where agriculture shaped his early understanding of wine as a connection to land, history, and people.
He studied at the University of Talca, completed an internship at the University of Valladolid in Spain, and gained experience at Concha y Toro, Montes, and VIK. A defining step in his career was moving to the Atacama Desert to lead the winemaking project at Viña Ayllu, embracing the challenge of working in one of Chile’s most extreme environments.
Today, he focuses on crafting wines that express the desert’s identity, working closely with the Lickanantay farming cooperative. He believes winemaking requires not only technical skill, but also deep attention to the vineyard and landscape. His goal is to establish Atacama as a distinctive wine region and to prove that exceptional wines can come from unexpected places. Media Inquiries: fabian@ayllu.wine | https://store.ayllu.wine/
What’s the ONE THING most unique, authentic, & memorable about your brand?
Viña Ayllu is unique, authentic, and unforgettable because it produces wine in the heart of the Atacama Desert, at over 2,400 meters of altitude—transforming the ancestral agriculture of the Lickanantay people into a winemaking expression unlike any other in the world.
What sets it apart is the convergence of an extreme, high-altitude desert terroir—marked by intense solar radiation, dramatic day–night temperature shifts, scarce rainfall, and mineral-rich soils—with a deeply rooted cultural identity. Owned by the Lickanantay Farmers’ Cooperative, each wine reflects generations of agricultural knowledge and a collective commitment to preserving land and heritage. This is paired with sustainable viticulture in one of the driest places on Earth and an origin-driven approach that prioritizes expressing the Atacama’s character over standardized styles.
Born from a cooperative of farmers in San Pedro de Atacama, Toconao, and Socaire, Viña Ayllu represents a shared effort to protect both culture and livelihood. Rather than “correcting” the desert, the philosophy is to understand and interpret it—embracing its extremes to preserve natural freshness, concentration, and mineral identity.
Viña Ayllu ultimately challenges the idea that great Chilean wines must come from traditional valleys. Here, the protagonist is an oasis in the driest desert on Earth. More than geography, its true distinction lies in its human model: each bottle is a collective expression of place, culture, and community—proof that great wine can emerge from the most unexpected origins.
Describe how and what you’d do with your winemaking career or winery business if you were not constrained.
My goal would be to make Viña Ayllu the world’s leading example of viticulture in arid and high-altitude regions, demonstrating that great wines can also be born in extreme territories when there is respect for the landscape and the people who inhabit it.
I would invest in a research center dedicated exclusively to desert viticulture, where scientists, agronomists, winemakers, and farmers could study how to address climate change through practices developed in the Atacama Salt Flat. What we learn today out of necessity could become knowledge for wine regions around the world.
I would also expand the restoration of old vineyards and family plots in the Lickanantay communities. More than planting new hectares, I am interested in rescuing the agricultural heritage that still survives in the Atacama oases, ensuring that future generations find in agriculture a profitable activity and a source of pride.
If resources weren’t a limitation, I would promote ongoing programs to train young people from the communities in viticulture, winemaking, wine tourism, and management, so that the future of Viña Ayllu remains in the hands of the territory itself. The success of the project would be meaningless if it didn’t generate opportunities for those who have lived here for generations.
What is the One Wine most emblematic of your brand and/or winemaking style? Tell us its story.
If I had to choose just one wine to represent Viña Ayllu, it would be Ayllu Naranjo. Not necessarily because it’s our best-selling wine, but because it best expresses who we are and where we want to take viticulture in the Atacama Desert.
Made from Muscat of Alexandria and Muscat Rosé, a variety that has been present for generations in the Atacama oases, this wine revives a historical tradition through contemporary winemaking with skin maceration and aging in clay amphorae. The result is a wine with personality, texture, and an aromatic expression that reflects the character of the desert and its origin.
Bonus Question: What’s the one thing people would be surprised to learn about you?
I think what’s most surprising about me is that, despite being only 28, I’ve dedicated a large part of my career to developing high-quality wines, and now wines in one of the most challenging territories for viticulture: the Atacama Desert.
Many assume that leading a project of this nature requires decades of experience at a traditional winery. My path has been different. I’ve built my experience by facing unconventional challenges, learning to interpret an extreme terroir, and working hand in hand with the Lickanantay communities to create wines with a unique identity.
More than following established recipes, I’m motivated to question what we believe is possible in the world of wine. My greatest satisfaction is demonstrating that innovation doesn’t always originate in classic wine regions; it can also emerge in the most inhospitable and extreme places, when technical knowledge, respect for the land, and the conviction to do things differently and with passion are combined.