Here at the Naturalist Center, you can get up close and personal with the natural history of our state.

And what says naturally NC more than locally-grown wine and, llamas?

Well, maybe llamas are not native to North Carolina, but as Rick Sullivan discovered, they make visiting a winery a whole lot more fun.

- [Rick] There is no shortage of great European wine varietals and unique experiences to be had in Yadkin Valley, but only Divine Llama Vineyards has this: a herd of nearly 100 llamas believed to be the largest collection of the fluffy animals in the Southeastern US.

- What's up?

- [Rick] And their 91-acre home turf has also been growing grapes for nearly 20 years.

That's when Michael West, an architect by trade and a lover of big animals, dove headfirst into the wine business.

- My expertise was pulling the cork out of the bottle and appreciating fine wine.

Had no idea how to make wine nor how to grow grapes.

- [Rick] So Mr. West went to school, studied wine making at Surry Community College and learned enough to know how to oversee his grape growing operation.

- We planted our first grapes in 2007.

We selected the four, we planted four varietals in 2007.

- [Rick] They now have 12 different grapes covering these slopes, sharing the land with the llamas.

Down at the llama barn, a trek was about to take place when a welcome surprise held things up.

- Okay, we just had a cria, so we're gonna get to see a baby cria, baby llama that was just born, shh.

- [Rick] The largest herd in the southeast just got bigger.

But before we could see the baby, last week's newborn was lured out of the barn along with his family.

Llamas are super social and gentle with people, especially if someone has a bottle of milk.

Now, the camera can sneak in to see the newest cria who is still trying to find his footing and to figure out where to get his milk from Mama Llama - Just let the mom and the baby sorta, the mom smell the baby, and just wait and let it get up and ideally start nursing.

- This is perfect.

I mean, he's up, standing, walking around, and see him nibbling in the corner.

So he's trying to find an utter now.

We'll get him underneath, and direct him to the right location and hopefully, if everything goes well, then he starts nursing within a few hours.

- [Rick] By the luck of the camera, he took to it in just a few minutes.

No more llama drama.

The cria is safely off to a great start on the farm.

And for the lucky llamas who've earned their right to trek, they are off on an adventure with some new human friends.

- [Trekker] Hey, friends.

We about to go walking.

- [Rick] Visitors to Divine Llama Vineyard get on a waiting list months in advance for this chance to leash-walk a llama around the property.

- Yeah, for the trek.

- So seven months in advance.

- Yeah!

So we were like, "We have to go do that."

And yeah, so here we are today.

And so like loved it.

It was so amazing.

- [Rick] The treks only happen in fall, winter, and spring; good llama weather.

The group hikes through the woods across a couple of babbling brooks, and it includes many nature breaks for the big fluffy critters who have a funny habit.

If one pees, they all pee.

- [Trekker] Good job, you made it.

- [Rick] The whole thing takes one to two hours and ends back at the Vineyard with a downhill sprint past the vines.

And all of this has only been the start of a fun visit to Divine Llama Vineyards.

Time now for the tasting room and a chance to enjoy some of the outstanding wines that can only be purchased here on site.

You can get them by the bottle to-go, but sampling and relaxing here is highly recommended and popular to a lot of different groups.

- We try to get out here at least once a year.

We're not too far, we're fairly local.

But yeah, it's beautiful.

And obviously the kids enjoy the llama farm.

- There you go.

- Just being here, it's just like, oh, like it just feels so relaxing.

You're just drinking a glass of wine like it's so great.

- [Deborah] Divine Llama Vineyards is at 4126 Divine Llama Lane in East Bend, about 20 miles northwest of Winston-Salem.

To plan your trip, give them a call at [336] 699-2525 or go online to divinellamavineyards.com.