Varmax Liquor Pantry

A hidden gem in Port Chester, Varmax is one of the better wine/​liquor stores I’ve come across in the lower Fairfield County/​Westchester/​Outer boroughs areas in recent memory. Stopped in after getting my tires done down the road at Hank May’s and was pleasantly surprised by the huge selection of wine as well as liquor. They carry a range of bottles from inexpensive all the way up to $ 200+ higher end selections. I went in looking for a couple of bottles of wine and came out with three as well as a nice bottle of whiskey because of the great prices. I will definitely be returning next time I’m passing through!

Varmax is not pretentious. That’s like saying Target’s got an attitude problem, it’s a large store & so many different people work there. Maybe someone was having a bad day, maybe there was a wine shortage. Who knows? Who cares. Do you want to save money but still get high quality stuff? Then this is the place! Varmax is a great discount wine & spirits store. They have coupons and I’ve gotten as much as 16% off. A very nice discount! As for the selection, the store is large, almost too large. You can get lost in here. The salespeople are helpful. What’s lacking at this store is a curated separate wine section. They have great high quality wines but they can be hard to find. That’s not an issue if you know what you want. But if you’re going here to browse, it could take a long time. They also carry a few pretty good affordable organic wines — the Bonterra Organically Grown Cabernet Sauvignon is great value for under 20 $, it is full bodied & has a nice degree of complexity not normally found in the organic wines of the past. Goes well with foods too. Varmax usually has it & for a nice price.

Amazing selection of wines and liquor. Very reasonable prices and if you buy the case they will give your additional discount. Just spending some time looking at different wines from all over the world is so much fun. They have excellent choices of fantastic wines from California at affordable prices. You can’t go wrong buying wines and liquor at this store.

It’s probably damning this place with faint praise to say it has the best selection in Westchester. I suppose if you are looking for something exclusive Zachy’s might be a better bet, but Varmax is friendlier, and offers low prices, particularly when you check in and grab the discount.
There are wine tastings on the weekends, and the last time I was there, Macallan single malt was up for tasting.

Had a badly handled experience at Westchester Wine Warehouse in WP where I probably averaged 20 cases a year plus liquor and looked for a new larger scale store to compliment the other shop I use, the excellent Grapes in North WP. I can only say that I wish I found Varmax sooner. Been there a couple times now and the selection and staff are very good and prices reasonable. I’m sold!

I love love love this place! They have a terrific selection of wine. They are always running specials & the staff is very helpful & friendly.

Varmax is one of the best liquor stores I’ve been to. There are some very helpful and informative staff members here and the store has an amazing selection to choose from. The prices are in line with most stores and a lot of times there are great deals on wine.
Just as an example of how great the service is, I went in on the way to a surprise 30^th birthday party and didn’t have much time to spare. The helped me pick out a great bottle of 20+ year old bushmills and took it downstairs, wrapped the box, put a ribbon on it and sent me on my way. I will go out of my way to get my wine and spirits here and you should too. I buy wine here for Christmas gifts and they do all the wrapping here for me and have it ready on the date I need. They also have great tastings every week.

Great selection, the guy knew his stuff and good prices. Great find thanks to Unilocal

Great selection and prices. Helpful staff. Unilocal discount seals the deal.

Huge selection and great prices. They always have what I’m looking for. The staff is always friendly and helpful.

This place is wonderful! Large selection of wine with many good tasting wines under $ 20. The staff is friendly and knowledgeable. They publish a newsletter to their patrons that highlights new wines & good deals.
You can join their mailing list and get 10% off every order with your coupon or if you use a recyclable bag.
Family-​owned business provide personalized service. Prices are reasonable!

Tons of options, helpful staff, reasonable prices.

This place is fantastic!
It’s got almost everything you could possibly want in terms of liquor and wine (I don’t think I’ve seen beer in here though which I also kind of like). I come in here every time looking for one or two bottles of wine or liquor and walk out with at least half a case.
One of the managers is very helpful, very friendly and very personable. Everyone that works there is always looking to be helpful and lend a personal touch to your buying experience. The prices are quite good, I’ve gotten 6 bottles of wine for about $ 30 at one point (half were from the priced down/​sale section). It’s always a good experience walking into this place… and the best part… they are open to me having my puppy with me!

Varmax! The selection is HUGE, so there’s always some new and interesting bottles to check out. My good friend Tracy’s family owns it (she’s one of the managers.) So, naturally I may be a bit bias. However, I do feel as though its a shopping experience that you can’t find anywhere else. The store has great character and feels more like you’re wandering around someone’s private collection as opposed to wandering aimlessly through a warehouse. I never know what I’m looking for when I walk in there, but I usually give them a general description of things I enjoy and they point me in the right direction. Which is good because I tend to grab bottles with artsy fartsy labels that taste horrible, and they’ll always give me warning that it might not be my style.
Oh yea, and they have a talking parrot… does your other liquor store have a talking parrot? I didn’t think so.

I got more than a case of wine on a recent trip to Varmax, the store offered an in-​depth, global view of wine helping me to find some new favorites. The goal was to buy a mixed case of interesting wine to share with family as we traveled the east coast.
A manager personally took us around the store picking out her favorite values from across the spectrum of wines that they carry. All in the $ 9 – 15 range we picked up a mix of spicy Spanish, buttery Chardonnays, bubbly, a dark red, rich Australian, a smooth Italian, a beaujolais and refreshing Riesling. All but one of the twelve labels were brand new to us.
As our journey of seeing family and sharing wines continued, everyone looked forward to what we’d pull out of the box to share next. We were a gourmet wine tasting on the go! I recently tried the same experiment of listing a few guidelines and going ‘shopping’ with a manager at a top rated San Diego wine store. So far I’ve been sorely disappointed with his selections. That trick doesn’t work everywhere.
The level of service, variety and knowledge available at Varmax is a real treat.

The warehouse has got great selection of wines, from Laetitia Pinot Noir to Vouvray Petillant to Egly Ouriet Grand Cru Champagne.
Prices are reasonable, especially if you have the green recyclable bag, which warrants you a 10% discount.
Ask for Jesse, Joe, or JJ, who are very knowledgeable & competent.

Ideally I would give 4.5 stars. As I grew up in Larchmont, I hate to disagree with Peter T… but I have always found Varmax’s service to be very good, and not at all pretentious. Varmax’s great selection and laid back attitude has made their store my go to wine shop. If you sign up with them you can also receive a weekly email that clues you in on some pretty impressive deals. If you search them on google you can find a 10% gift certificate that I think is essentially good anytime. Now if they only had a better selection of Chinons I would give them 5 stars!

I have a love/​hate relationship with this place. I love their selection of wine and spirits which is extensive to say the least. I also find their prices reasonable, and the discount on cases a bonus.
So why did I give this place two stars? They are rude and pretentious!!!
I have been there three times and every time the staff has given me dirty looks. I do not know what to attribute it to. Maybe is it because I am young, and they think I am buying for under age drinkers. Or maybe they don’t like the way I look. I cannot say for sure, but all I know is that the lady behind the counter was convinced my ID was fake and felt the need to give me a patronizing lesson on not drinking too much. I was buying ice wine wine and champagne for god sakes!
As much as I do not want to shop here, I find myself doing it for more obscure items.