JSFiddle - React, Tailwind, and code Playground

HTML

<nav class="vertical-menu">
 <span class="nav-item">BLUE</span>
 <span class="nav-item nav-item-selected">RED</span>
 <span class="nav-item">GREEN</span> 
 <span class="nav-item">YELLOW</span>
 <span class="nav-item">PURPLE</span>
</nav>

CSS

.vertical-menu {
  text-align:center;
  -moz-transform: rotate(90deg) translateX(-80px) translateY(-80px);
  -webkit-transform: rotate(90deg) translateX(-80px) translateY(-80px);
  -o-transform: rotate(90deg) translateX(-80px) translateY(-80px);
  transform: rotate(90deg) translateX(-80px) translateY(-80px);
  width: 250px;
  height: 70px;
  margin: 0;
}

.nav-item {
    background-color: #c30000;
    color: #fff;
    border-radius: 4px;
    height: 24px;
    line-height: 24px;
    vertical-align: middle;
    margin: 5px auto;
    padding: 2px 10px;
    display: inline-block;
}

.nav-item-selected {
    background-color: #7F0000;
}