Off flavors
Undesirable odors perceived by the mouth.
Off odors
Undesirable odors perceived by the nose from a variety of possible sources.
Old vines ...
Dirty A wine with off flavors and aromas that most likely resulted from poor hygiene during the fermentation or bottling process
Dried up A wine that has lost some of its freshness or fruitiness due to extended aging.
Most modern wine producers use sulfites twice, first to kill wild strains of yeast and bacteria that might impart off flavors and later in the process to protect young (especially white) wine from spoilage due to oxidation, etc.
Brettanomyces is a type of wild yeast that can contaminate the winemaking process and cause off flavors. Depending on the level of Brett contamination, the flavors may be thought of as nice or unpleasant.
Off flavors could be removed in some cases, but if all else failed they would have to be masked with spices, herbs, honey, or some combination of the three.
A fermentation allowed to get too hot produces off flavors and can get stuck.
Try the barrel with about 1 bottle of port as a sample to check that it doesn't pick up any off flavors or odors. Leave the sample in the barrel for a week and try it. If the port has bad odor repeat step #2 or buy another barrel.
4 ...
It should be long and have good flavors and sensations in your mouth, tempting you to take another sip. A bad finish is one which is very short or has off flavors (bitter, astringent, etc.) which are not appealing.
Those conditions lead to the development of bacterial infection of cement fermentation tanks and old wood barrels that contributed to the development of off flavors and potential wine faults that would require at least 24 hours decanting to ...
 See also: Flavor, Wine, Off, Flavors, Grape
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