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It's a slightly different kind of populism. Some called it 'Regierungspopulism'. She orientates her policy towards the public opinion of the majority of the people and aims to maintain her power. She looks very carefully what the public opinion is, when it changes and then works in that direction. Opponents claim she is a populist of the middle. She is not so much driven by a program or an ideology, but she does what is popular at any one moment. As I already mentioned this view of her was then questioned during the refugee crisis where she not did support the willing to help part of the population, but also defended this when there was a more critical opposition rising, including in her own party and the sister party.

There might be a misunderstanding about the word "populist". Looking at Wikipedia:

Populism is a mode of political communication that is centred around contrasts between the "common man" or "the people" and a real or imagined group of "privileged elites", traditionally scapegoating or making a folk devil of the latter.

Merkel does not scapegoat elites.

I'm from Germany and germans see politics and also populism here is a bit different. I think it's a way of viewing it.