Thermoelectric nanowires have been predicted theoretically, and in a few cases shown experimentally, to have superior properties compared to their bulk counterparts due to quantum confinement. We present the synthesis of chalcogenide nanowires A2B3 (A = Bi, Sb; B = S, Se, Te) by electrochemical deposition into highly ordered porous Al2O3 membranes as nanotemplates. The narrow pore size distribution of the templates reproducibly yields nanowires of very homogeneous aspect ratio upon electrodeposition into the pores. The thermoelectric nanowires presented here were deposited from nonaqueous electrolytes based on Bi3+ and S (and their heavier counterparts). SEM investigations on released nanowires showed the homogeneous growth behaviour of the material. We were able to determine the Seebeck coefficient of nanowire ensembles of various V-VI materials embedded in the porous template. Furthermore we could obtain current-voltage curves for Bi2S3 from a single nanowire contacted using the focused ion beam technique.