We have investigated growth conditions and structure of Wurzite AlN nanowires grown on sapphire (0002) substrates by chemical vapor deposition. The morphology, and structure were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and Raman analysis. Luminescence properties of AlN nanowires were studied by electron and photon excitation measurements, such as cathodoluminescence and photoluminescence. Band to band excitonic feature at 6.12 eV was first observed at room temperature in this study. Two typical defect band related transmissions around 3.0 eV and 4.85 eV were also observed, which are due to the radioactive recombination processes involving oxygen impurity and Al vacancies.