High quality BaWO4 nanowire bundles have been synthesized in toluene-sodium dodecylbenzene sulphonate (SDBS)-small amount PEG20000-H2O reverse micelle system. XRD result shows that the obtained BaWO4 belongs to tetragonal phase with scheelite structure. TEM results demonstrate that the obtained BaWO4 nanowire bundles have high aspect-ratio (>650). The experimental results confirm that PEG20000 plays a key role for the formation of BaWO4 nanowire bundles. Other factors which influence the morphology and crystallinity of the product are also briefly discussed. Moreover, the obtained BaWO4 nanowire bundles exhibit strong photoluminescence centered at 397.3 nm with λex=343.5 nm at room temperature, which is different from the bulk BaWO4 crystals.