You can submit the application annually from January 1 through the end of February to the Federal Office for Agriculture and Food (BLE).

In Germany, the area available for new vineyard plantings is limited. It is allocated each year in several stages:

First, each federal state receives an allocation. If the total area requested exceeds the available quota, it is distributed proportionally among all applicants in that state.

If the quota available in Germany has not been fully utilized after this step, the remaining land is allocated nationwide. In this process, applications for new vineyards on steep slopes with a gradient of more than 30 percent are considered first. If there is not enough land to accommodate all of these applications, it is allocated on a pro-rata basis. If area is still available after that, it is distributed to areas with a slope gradient exceeding 15 percent and, in the final step, to parcels with a lower slope gradient and in flat areas.

The federal states may set additional caps for Protected Designations of Origin (PDO) and Protected Geographical Indications (PGI). These may result in only smaller areas being approved in those regions, even if there is still quota available nationwide.

If the BLE approves less than half of the area you applied for, you may decline the approval.

Before submitting your application, you must verify whether your land may be used for viticulture. Restrictions may arise in particular from nature and landscape conservation regulations. You can obtain information from your local municipality or the relevant state authority.