Calling all party-planners: Whether you’re organizing a huge New Year’s Eve bash or a more intimate affair with a handful of friends and loved ones, elegant and unique cocktails might be on your menu.

In search of a bit of advice to help ring in 2012 with pizazz, I turned to Susan Hall, downtown Lewiston’s newest wine and spirits expert. She shares a few ideas — that won’t “break the bank” — that will also allow you, as host or hostess, plenty of time to sing Auld Lang Syne, toot those party horns and watch the ball drop. Maybe even share a kiss to welcome the new year.

As owner of The Vault — appropriately housed in an old bank-turned-retail-establishment located at 84 Lisbon St. — Hall spends her days surrounded by diverse stacks of wine, champagne, sparkling wines, craft beers and wine accessories. She does her best to stock high-quality products at affordable prices, and was willing to share recommendations and advice on how to take a simple bottle of sparkling wine and increase the “wow factor” for your guests.

“For the sake of keeping things affordable,” she said, “sparkling wine cocktails are the way to go.”

Her drink concoctions are quite simple, and most take one or two ingredients. “As a rule of thumb, you don’t want to use your best champagne for mixing. That’s best to be enjoyed by itself.”

She said the versatility of these cocktails allow you to enjoy them either before or after dinner. For extra sophistication, go ahead and spend another dollar or two on some fresh mint.

“We’re all super busy, too,” she added, “so these recipes will still look elegant without taking too much time. There is little fuss involved, so it really frees up the host or hostess.” All you’ll need to do in advance is chill the sparkling wines and mixers, spend a few minutes slicing up lemons or limes for extra flavor and flourish, and make sure you have plenty of ice.

Hall’s recommendation is to use a Prosecco (a sparkling wine from Italy) or Cava (one from Spain) as the alcoholic base. The Vault usually has in stock eight to 10 different labels, typically ranging in price from $7.99 to $14.99. The two brands she highlighted were Zonin and Segura Viudas.

And — because it’s New Year’s Eve and you’d rather not nod off embarrassingly early — she said, “The goal is to keep it ‘light’ in terms of alcohol.”

Hall also offered readers a recipe for a peach Bellini, a drink made “famous in the 1940s at Harry’s Bar at the Hotel Cipriani, in Venice, Italy.”

Bellinis can also be made with apricot puree. She said when the sparkling wine is very slowly poured into the champagne flute (on top of the puree), it will create a lovely, elongated tail. “You want the essence of classic elegance . . . of being the mixologist without all the work.”

Lastly, one of her favorite drinks is a White Port Spritzer, which she said is served in outdoor cafes throughout Portugal and Spain — traditionally served with a slice of lime.

“It’s light and really refreshing,” Hall said, “And it is so good!”

She called white port the “other” port — the one you don’t usually hear about. She said the recipe for the spritzer “doesn’t translate as well using a red port,” so you’ll want to pick up a bottle of the white for approximately $15. Served with ice, she estimates one bottle will make approximately 12 servings.

When it comes to what food to serve with your fancy cocktails, here’s an added perk: Hall said these drinks tend to work with almost any type of party food, so just about anything goes. “They’re that versatile. They can carry pretty much anything on the hors d’oevres tray. They won’t clash with anything.”

A few ideas she suggested include smoked salmon, deviled eggs, antipasto, or your favorite hot appetizer. A variety of Maine-made cheeses would also be the perfect complement, Hall said, noting “we’re blessed with so many great creameries in the area. They’re incredible!”

And as you sip your bubbly, here’s to 2012! May we all be blessed with good friends, good food, love and abundance.

When it comes to wine specials, she said, they offer a Vault pick-of-the-week and a 10 percent case discount when you buy 12 bottles, mix and match. More special pricing is often offered on featured wines during their periodic wine tastings, since she buys in case quantities from her distributors.

She currently spends much of her time learning about the craft beer industry, which she said is the “quickest-evolving business in the beverage industry.”

Be on the lookout for the Vault’s first beer tasting in January, at which Hall will focus on four different Maine beer brewers. For more information call 376-4500 or go to www.wineatthevault.com.

European Union laws, followed by most countries, reserve the term “champagne” exclusively for sparkling wines produced from the Champagne wine region, located about 100 miles east of Paris, France.

Because of this, the term “champagne” is not used when referring to a sparkling wine produced from outside this region.

Tiziano

6 servings

Ingredients:

1 bottle Prosecco

1 -1/2 to 2 cups of chilled white grape juice

1 lemon, thinly sliced

Chopped mint

Combine Prosecco and grape juice in a pitcher. Pour into glasses over ice and garnish with lemon slices and sprigs of mint. Add some blueberries or raspberries for added flare.

This is an easy drink to replenish as the evening progresses. A nice twist is to offer is a display of different garnishes — different fruit, berries and mint — “so your guests can serve themselves and top it off with their favorite garnishment,” Susan Hall recommends.

Berry Sparkler

Single serving

Ingredients:

¼ cup of fresh raspberries or blackberries

1 teaspoon sugar

1/3 to 1/2 cup chilled Prosecco or Cava

Mash berries and sugar together with fork. Spoon mixture into champagne flute and top with sparkling wine.  Add garnish of mint.

White Port Spritzer

Single serving

Ingredients:

2 to 3 ounces white port

Tonic water or soda water, your preference

1 fresh lemon wedge

Sprig of mint

Fill a 6-ounce glass with ice. Fill 1/3 with white port and remaining 2/3 with tonic or soda water.  Garnish with lemon and mint. So refreshing!

Bellini 

Single serving

Ingredients:

2 ounces peach puree (2 or 3 very ripe peaches, pureed until smooth)

4 ounces sparkling wine

Pour peach puree into champagne flute. Very slowly add sparkling wine. For a special touch, add a splash of pomegranate juice and a sprig of mint.

Note: For an alternate peach option — if those you find at the store are not quite ripe enough — use a jar of peeled peach slices found in the fresh cooler display in the fruit and vegetable section. Drain thoroughly.