Tasting Luca as your "introduction to Malbec" will only lead to a lot of future disappointment, because at its price point (at least what Costco sells it for when it is available there), you aren't going to do any better. In fact, you can do worse for double that.

I'm rarely in any sort of corporate tasting room with multi-national conglomerate ownership. Not that it doesn't occasionally happen, but your Provenance experience is not atypical for such a visit. Still, I do wonder how someone dreams up the taste of "dirty" soil.