What's That "Gunk" in my Wine?

[Alsatian]

Hello, first post here. At any rate, I picked up a few bottles of 2002 R. Merlo Syrah at considerably below MSRP. In any case, decided to open a bottle to pair with my roasted lamb thanksgiving dinner. In any case, upon popping the cork a "grape mud" of sorts followed corkscrew out of the bottle. At first the sight horrified me, as in 20 years of wine hunting/drinking, etc, I've never seen this phenomenon before. Despite the unappealing nature of this "stuff" I decided to decant a few ounces. the aroma was very nice, dried cherry, plum, currant, oak. The taste was big, lots of fruit up front followed by heavy tannins and a long, lingering finish. I was fairly impressed. Has anyone experienced anything like this before? This was much, much more than the occasional sediment one sees in aged reds, I'm talking a tablespoon full of mud! Thanks.